


Endless Void

by Clari1279



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anime Spoilers, Anime/Manga Fusion, But she can be read as a Reader as well, Canon Compliant, F/M, Follows Zoro, I have no idea how to rate this, JUST KNOW, Kuro is an Original Charachter, Manga Spoilers, Mix between Anime and Manga, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Wano Arc (One Piece), Wano Arc (One Piece) Spoilers, and since the story is following zoro, i guess, oc-insert, there are no reader blanks, there will be no talk about anything that the characters cannot know about, updates every other sunday
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:20:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24555340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clari1279/pseuds/Clari1279
Summary: Someone was watching him.Had been this whole time, but he couldn't find whoever it was.There was no one there.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro & Original Character(s), Roronoa Zoro & Reader, Roronoa Zoro/Original Female Character(s), Roronoa Zoro/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	1. A Stray Cat

Someone was watching him.

He could feel it by the tingling sensation on the back of his head, the hair on his neck standing on end. 

He didn't turn around or even look behind him, already knowing that he'd wind up with nothing. There was no one there.

He couldn't stop himself from reaching out with his Haki, but again, he knew what would happen, so at least he wasn't surprised when he wound up empty-handed. Again.

There was no one around. There was no one anywhere around him for miles upon miles. Not a single soul could have been watching him, but that didn't change the fact that he'd been feeling this way for weeks now.

Feeling watched.

And he had a creeping sensation that he knew exactly what had caused this feeling.

He first took notice of it in a small village, he had been staying at for a few days. It was at night, and there was no one around outside. No one but him.

Or so he thought. 

* * *

Zoro snapped out of his thoughts as he heard something from an alleyway. Something that sounded close to a scream. A quiet one.

Intrigued, he had walked into the alley, however, there was no one there. 

He would have left if it hadn't been for the distinct smell of blood that lingered in the alleyway.

He had been alert, his Haki flaring up to search for anyone or anything. He didn't find a person but rather an animal. 

A small dark cat was lying on the ground, whining.

It was covered in dirt, bleeding.

His first instinct, funnily enough, wasn't to just leave the cat to die or put it to rest. On the contrary, his first instinct was to pick it up to try and help.

He knelt down cautiously, reaching out to the cat, to see where it had been hurt.

When it flinched away just as his hand brushed against its leg, he had gotten his answer.

He looked up the building in front of him, 'Probably fell down,' he thought as he looked back to the cat on the ground, which had opened its eyes, and was now looking at him intensely.

Not really thinking about what he was doing, he picked the cat up, noticing that it was surprisingly light, 'Figures... No one's eating around here.'

"You haven't eaten much either, huh?" he asked the cat, as he made his way back to the small motel he had been staying in the past two days, the cat letting out a small 'meow' as an answer.

'Can't be too hard, can it?' he thought as he laid the cat down on his too-small futon and grabbed some sake, "What a waste..." he muttered to himself, sighing, "this may sting," he didn't know why he said that.

The cat certainly didn't answer his warning, except for a small, almost inaudible 'Meow,' that almost sounded like a whine.

Maybe he had been around Chopper for too long. Who knew?

The cat squirmed at the sting of his sake, and, if it hadn't been for Zoro, holding the cat down, it would've tried to squirm away from the sting. Not that it would've gotten far with the wound on its leg, anyway.

Before he went to sleep, he took a bowl with water he had bought earlier that day, drenching an old cloth and starting to clean the cat's fur.

It was then that he got to take a closer look at the cat. It seemed to be a mostly black cat with slightly dirty, white front paws, 'Chopper called these socks... I think,' he thought to himself while continuing to clean the cat. There were two silver or white stripes, going up the sides of its back legs. The cat's green eyes stared up at him in what he first thought was curiosity or wonder when he cleaned its ears. One of the ears was completely black, while the other was white, along with a small spot of fur around it.

* * *

Zoro sighed at the memory. The cat wasn't there when he had woken up the next morning. 

He caught a few glimpses of a small animal around him, though, and one time he swore, that he'd seen the cat walking after him.

And all this time, he hadn't been able to shake off the feeling of being watched.

But all that didn't matter anymore. He had screwed up. He felt sorry for breaking the promise he had made to Kin'emon.

He didn't feel sorry for those guys. They got what they deserved. To preserve what Kin'emon was trying to do, he had to head to a different city, which he was currently doing.

While he was lost in thoughts and memories, he had left town, and was now in the middle of nowhere.

He didn't actually know where he was going as he looked up at the sky, unconsciously adjusting his direction to the way the clouds were going. 

'Everything just looks the same,' he thought to himself, looking around at the deserted area around him.

Soon, he found some animals that were still alive and he wasted no time in getting what he needed, grilling them over a campfire in the wastelands of Wano, "This place is great! I can eat as much meat and fish as I want!" his grin soon fell though as he remembered something, "would be great to have Sake as well though..." he sighed as he closed his eye.

Suddenly, his Haki was on high alert, "Please help! Someone!" a woman screamed as she ran from two men who were riding after her, and already, Zoro was on his way to stop the two men, slashing them with his Katana, "Lady, step back..." he called out to the woman who was now standing behind him, the two men taking fighting stances of their own.

Zoro walked toward the men, and recognition flashed across their faces. They recognized him as Zorojuro, 'the Slasher'. But Zoro wasn't paying attention to any of that, only looking at the huge bottle of Sake on one of the men's hip, "That Sake..." he mumbled as he jumped forward, "Give it to me!" the two men tried to fight back, but both their swords were cast out along with them as they flew off a few feet.

While the men landed on their feet, shock casting their faces in ugly grimaces, their swords were nowhere to be seen. Their last attempts at fighting back were futile as the first one fell down with almost no fight while the other one's attempts were utterly fruitless, and he quickly followed his comrade to the ground.

Zoro sheathed his Katana and walked toward the man with the Sake to retrieve his prize, immediately wolfing most of it down, "I don't know who you are, but thank you for saving my life!" the woman bowed to him as Zoro grinned at the taste of his newly acquired Sake, "Oh, don't mention it," Zoro turned to the woman, "I just wanted their Sake... de-gozaru," he stated firmly.

"But I want to return your favor!" the woman kept insisting as a sudden thought crossed Zoro's mind, "Then! Sake!" he chirpily held up the bottle of Sake, which the woman was quick to deny, "Oh! I don't have that!" she sounded almost pleading, and Zoro was about to say something when, suddenly, "Hey, Zoro! It's me, it's me!" a familiar voice shouted.

Zoro turned around at the mention of his name, and it didn't take long for recognition and joy to take over his features as he recognized the person calling for him, "Luffy! You were here after all!" he shouted back happy to see his captain again.

"I finally get to see you! Zoro!" Luffy chirped as he jumped off the huge dog or lion he was riding on top of.

Both men letting out screams of joy as Luffy drew closer to Zoro.

"It's been a long-" Zoro suddenly stopped as his eye went wide in shock, the realization of what was about to happen finally hitting him, "It's been a long time-de-gozaru!" Luffy laughed as he held onto Zoro's head, having landed on his shoulders.

Zoro tried hard to pull Luffy off of him, and finally managed to pull at least his head free of Luffy's grip, gasping for air, as he turned his face to grin at his captain, "Is everyone with you?"

"Ah!! We got separated, but... Well, they're probably fine!" Luffy chimed as he jumped off Zoro, shifting his attention to the man's food, instead, "You've got meat!" Luffy's eyes nearly bulged out of his head in excitement, practically drooling over Zoro's food.

"You can hunt as many fish and animals as you want around here, Luffy!" Zoro smiled at Luffy, taking another swig of his Sake, "You won't have to worry about getting hungry at all!"

Luffy shook his head as he ate some of Zoro's meat, "No, you should be careful. The water around here is poisonous," he spoke around a mouthful of meat, "I heard that the animals and fish here are poisonous, too!"

"I see," Zoro thought about that for a few seconds before he realized something, "So that's why my stomach's been hurting..." he thought to himself.

As soon as Luffy filled himself with the poisonous meat, he skipped back over to the lion or dog creature, "Anyway... Hop on, Zoro!" he exclaimed excitedly, "A lot has happened since I last saw you! We need to take this girl to a doctor!"

Zoro's eye shifted to a panting girl, who was lying on top of the creature, before his eye turned to Luffy in disbelief, "That girl looks exhausted!" he shouted, giving his captain an incredulous look, "You shouldn't be eating right now!"

He was about to scold his captain further, when, suddenly, another voice spoke up, "Hey, you there," Luffy and Zoro turned to look at the man who was approaching them on something that looks like a mix between a deer and a lion. In a way, it looked somewhat similar to the creature Luffy had been riding on. Behind them were several of what Zoro assumed were his underlings.

He did look familiar in a way, and Zoro didn't have to strain his brain for long, as recognition flared in his eye almost instantly, "Are you the nationally wanted criminal Zorojuro?" Zoro's eye hardened into a glare, "And are those your friends?" Hawkins asked as recognition flashed over Luffy's face, as well, "Huh?! That's...!" Luffy gawked at Hawkins as Zoro sighed.

"Straw Hat...!" his eyes widened just slightly as the gears set into place, "I was on my way to Kuri Beach, but..." he trailed off, "You were the criminal there, right?" he concluded.

"Yep, that's him..." Zoro answered Luffy, "Looks like he's working for Kaido."

"Two of my subordinates and one baboon disappeared," Hawkins kept talking as though he wasn't aware of the silent conversation the two Strawhat's were having, "There's a 98 percent chance that you were the culprit..." he spoke before raising his voice slightly, "But it doesn't matter. In the land of Wano, there are only two options."

"You can follow the strong... Or disobey them and live in hiding," he spoke as though it was a set rule that everyone must be aware of.

Luffy and Zoro both grabbed their Katanas, unsheathing them as Zoro let out a huff, "Luffy, Kin'emon said this:" he glanced at his captain from the corner of his eye, "'Don't cause a disturbance!'" Luffy just laughed lightly in reply, "All right! Then we'll just apologize to him later!" a small grin spread across his face, excited at the fight to come.

In the back of his mind, Zoro recognized the feeling of being watched from afar again, as Hawkins spoke up once again, "If you're here on vacation, I would advise you to leave."

"Do you have any idea, who's **actually** controlling this country from the shadows?" he asked, and Zoro immediately responded what Kin'emon had told him to, "No, I don't!"

Of course, Luffy hadn't been instructed on how to act, so he made a guess that it's Kaido, saying that he's come here to beat the emperor's ass.

Zoro's eye widened slightly, "Luffy! Kin'emon told us not to say that!" he whisper-shouted toward his captain, who retaliated instantly, "I was lying!! I actually don't know either!" he tried to save himself, but something told Zoro that it was already too late for that.

It was then, that something caught Zoro's eye, while Hawkins was muttering something about them being dead by the end of the month, "By the way, where did you get that sword?" he demanded, itching to hold it, as the aura had him fidgeting slightly.

"It's supposed to be a world-renowned sword, right-de-gozaru?" Luffy laughed happily, holding his katana up, making Zoro itching to hold it even more, "No. I'm serious. It really does have the aura of a world-renowned sword," he exclaimed, "Let me hold it for a second..." Zoro started reaching for the sword, only for Luffy to ignore him, shouting at the rapidly approaching enemies instead.

"I just wanna borrow it for a bit," he tried again, "You don't know how to use a sword anyway," he tried to reason, as Luffy cast off the katana's sheath, irking the swordsman immensely, "Don't throw the sheath away!" he shouted as Luffy ran forward, "It'll be fine. I'm gonna cut them-de-gozaru!" he stretched his arm back, leaving Zoro grunting in annoyance, "Gomu gomu no...!" his arm swung back forward, hitting one of Hawkins' men in the face, "Pistol!" 

"You just used your pistol punch!" Zoro tried to reason with him again, the aura the sword was emitting not leaving his mind for even a second. Luffy, however, ignored Zoro's shouts as he barely dodged the attack from the lizard, throwing it to the side, angrily.

The lizard flew off toward Hawkins, who hadn't made a move until now. He unsheathed his sword that looked as though it might be made out of straw rather than any sort of metal, piercing the lizard in its back.

The lizard fell dead to the ground, Luffy momentarily regretting his decision to throw it against Hawkins, when Zoro used this opportunity to slice Hawkins' face, leaving Luffy shocked at how easy this seemed to be until their attention was grabbed by one of Hawkins' men falling to the ground instead of the man himself.

When their eye drifted back to Hawkins, a straw-man was just falling out of his arm and onto the ground. Its head was sliced just were Zoro had sliced Hawkins mere seconds ago.

Hawkins took their shock as his cue to explain what was happening. The strawmen represent his subordinate's whose lives protect his, as they will die instead of him if he receives a deadly wound. 

As he was explaining, his sword suddenly began growing until it was a huge straw-version of Hawkins himself, "Let the game begin."

Zoro grew excited about the fight to come, licking the blade of his katana, a smirk forming on his face, whereas Luffy just frowned at Hawkins, "A game?"

Hawkins drew his first card, cursing himself, as two of his subordinates suddenly started killing each other, seemingly out of nowhere. Hawkins apologized, promising to draw a better card this time.

"What the hell are they doing?" Luffy asked, but he didn't receive an answer as the giant creature came running toward them, barking as it approached them.

"Hey!! What are you doing, dog?!" Luffy exclaimed as the creature grabbed him with its mouth, running off with him, as Zoro quickly jumped on the creature back.

He noticed a weird presence nearby but ignored it as Luffy climbed up on the creature's back as well. The kid was worse than when he last saw it.

"Tama!" Luffy exclaimed frantically, "This fever is insane!" the kid, Tama, huffed, straining to breathe in some air as she was burning up, "So that's why this dog was in a rush," Zoro frowned as he stood up.

The big straw-man was chasing after them, "Woah! He's coming after us!" Luffy sputtered as he held Tama close to his chest, protecting her.

"Protect the kid! I'll take care of this guy!" Zoro shouted back toward Luffy with barely any time before the huge straw-man started attacking them with its giant, spiked sword, "Ugh," Zoro grunted as he strained to keep his sword up, "What's with this strength?"

He trembled slightly under the pressure, his eyes widening in shock as the enemy suddenly started spitting nails at him, too.

"Zoro!" Luffy exclaimed in shock before something else caught his attention.

While Zoro slit the huge straw-man in a single attack, a small, black cat walked out to watch the scene. It had been hiding between the dog's mane up until this point.

It meowed quietly, walking toward Luffy and Tama, trustingly. When Zoro sat down next to them, his eye shifted to the cat in surprise as it approached to sit in front of him, staring at him. 

"You have a cat?" Luffy exclaimed in surprise, however, before Zoro could respond, he was startled by the sound of someone speaking up from behind them, "Oh my goodness, you two are very strong samurai!" the woman exclaimed before bowing politely.

"Who the hell are you?!" Luffy shouted at her, his mouth agape.

"I can't believe you fought off Hawkins," she continued without answering Luffy, "earlier, I was saved by Sir Green," she motioned toward Zoro, who had his ever-present scowl on his face, as his eye shifted from the woman back to the cat in front of him.

It was still staring up at him, not moving an inch.

"My name is Tsuru," the woman concluded, and Zoro's eye shifted back to her, "So, you hid inside this dog's tail the whole time?!" Zoro glared at her. He hadn't noticed her presence at all.

"I may be overstepping my boundaries here, but..." she ignored Zoro's question as she pointed at Tama, "That child... Isn't she O-Tama-chan from Amigasa Village?"

That caught Luffy's attention as he leaned forward just slightly, "Do you know her?!" he exclaimed.

"As I thought, she must have drunk the river water..." she sounded frantic as she looked at Tama, "In that case, instead of finding a doctor, please bring her to my tea house!" 

"Why would we go and drink tea at a time like this?!" Zoro shouted at her, making the cat jump in fright as it retreated to the quieter Luffy, who just frowned at Tsuru, "Not that I know who this kid is, though," he added, more quietly.

"You've got it all wrong!" she was quick to defend herself, "We're going to boil a medicinal herb, effective against the river's poison, to give to her," she shook her hands while explaining herself, "I'll show you the way."

She suddenly turned her attention to Zoro, pulling out a needle and threat, "Please, let me repay you! Let me tend to your wounds, too, Sir Green!" she was barely finished with talking when Zoro snatched the needle and threat from her hand, patching himself up.

"I see!" Luffy exclaimed, happily, "Thank you so much for helping us!" he grinned at Tsuru. 

While the group was on their way toward Tsuru's tea shop in Okobore Town, the cat crawled back out from behind Luffy, glancing between everyone on top of the dog's back, before lingering on Zoro a little longer.

"Ah! Right!" Luffy turned to Zoro, as he held the shivering Tama closer to himself, "When did you get a cat?" Luffy watched as the cat approached Zoro, poking him with one of its front paws.

"I don't have a cat, Luffy," Zoro grumbled, his scowl deepening as he glanced down at the cat, who just jumped in his lap before standing upright against his chest, meowing.

Luffy frowned, "Well the cat seems to think that you do," he smiled happily as glanced from the cat toward a distraught Zoro, whose hands were hovering slightly over the cat, seemingly unsure about what to do with the little creature.

"I helped it a while ago," he admitted, as he tested patting its head carefully, a purr emitting in response, "it must have been following me ever since."

Luffy hummed, "So you **do** have a cat, then," he chimed, "You could've just said so from the start!" he laughed as Zoro glared at him, momentarily considering to retort something, but, ultimately, deciding against it, when the cat suddenly lied down in his lap. It was purring even louder now that Zoro was lightly petting it.

"What's her name?" Luffy asked as Tsuru took Tama from him, checking her temperature, as she sat down at the crook of the dog's neck.

Luffy scooted closer to Zoro, after glancing at Tama one last time. She'll be fine.

The cat looked up at the approaching Luffy curiously, sniffing at his hand before pushing against it, purring loudly. 

"How do you know it's a 'she'?" Zoro asked, curiously, frowning lightly as Luffy picked the cat up in response.

"Look," he turned the cat around, presenting it to Zoro, who just raised his eyebrow in question, "it doesn't have a package," Luffy explained and the cat started squirming, trying to escape Luffy's grasp, hissing and meowing at him in what seemed to be anger.

"Aww. Don't be like that, Kuro," Luffy chimed as he hugged the cat to his chest, to which the cat quickly gave up fighting, most likely figuring that it's useless.

"Kuro?" Zoro inquired, and Luffy nodded, "we don't know her name, and this fits her," he explained as he held the cat up to his eyes.

It glared at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: June 28th


	2. A Catnapped Child

"O-Kiku-chan!" Tsuru shouted over the dog's head as they approached her tea shop, "Hurry! Go and boil some Jyagan grass for me! O-Tama-chan drank the river's poison!" she shouted toward the woman, O-Kiku, who was standing in front of her tea shop.

As soon as they came to a stop, they jumped off with Tama, Kuro trailing after Zoro, who went to sit down somewhere outside the tea shop, leaving Luffy to enter by himself. 

Soon, however, Luffy and Tsuru joined Zoro and Kuro outside, waiting for Tama to recover.

Kuro was about to drift off into a small slumber when a scream echoed toward them.

"I feel better! I can't thank ya enough!" Tama shouted, and Zoro turned toward the tea shop in shock, "That was quick!" Zoro exclaimed as he stared at Tama in shock.

"That's because Jyagan grass is an extraordinary specialized herb," Kiku explained to Zoro. She was smiling, somewhat proudly as she glanced toward Tama, who was being scolded by Tsuru.

Tsuru explained that Tama should rest herself, and refrain from ever drinking the river's water again. Tama agreed but ran off in shame as her stomach growled, revealing that she was hungry.

Kuro was lying in Luffy's lap, enjoying the attention while he ate. She played with Luffy's hand as she watched Zoro from the corner of her eyes, "All right... I'm done," Kiku said happily, fixing the last bandage on his arm.

"Oh, thanks," Zoro turned to look at her, "by the way, you're a huge woman!" he exclaimed, having to look up to meet her eyes.

"Big Mom was bigger," Luffy munched on his food, looking over to the two of them, as he scratched Kuro behind her ears, the cat purring in delight.

"Just before you got here," Kiku ignored Zoro's remark, "a sumo wrestler was harassing me... You came at just the right time!" she smiled kindly.

"It's a bit late to introduce myself, but," she tilted her head slightly in greeting, "I am O-Kiku."

Their attention was snatched as Tama started talking, "Please, take this away, miss Owner!" she pushed a bowl of steaming food away from herself, bowing, "I can't even pay for the medicine ya gave me... Much less for this porridge!"

"You don't need to worry about the money," Tsuru offered, reassuringly, "Eat up!" she urged Tama, who started retreating from Tsuru and the food, "I cannot! Especially since you and O-Kiku probably haven't eaten a full stomach in ages!" Tama was now almost at the edge of the tea shop, about to leave. 

"And yet, on top of saving me, you're offering me your food as well?!" she stopped momentarily, "I cannot accept it! And I will definitely find a way to repay ya for the medicine!" as soon as those last words left her mouth, Tsuru seemed to snap, scolding Tama for refusing her food. She threatened to throw the food away if Tama were to refuse to eat it.

"O-Tama, just accept her offering! O-Tsuru isn't the type of person to take 'no' for an answer," Kiku exclaimed, frantically.

Eventually, Tama sat down between Luffy and Zoro, staring down at her bowl for a while.

Kuro kept staring at her curiously, until Zoro let out a grumble, "how long are you going to keep staring like that?" he frowned when Tama didn't answer, still staring down at her food. Luffy hummed in thought as well.

Kuro inched closer to Tama, pawing at her curiously.

"Good for you! It's your birthday today, after all," Luffy spoke up happily, urging Tama to start eating. Zoro looked up at this, surprised, "Oh? Is that so?" Luffy nodded in confirmation. Kuro sat down between Tama and Luffy, staring up at the girl curiously as she let out a quiet, 'Meow,' as if to urge Tama to eat already.

Tama hesitated for a few more seconds, before taking a long sip of the still steaming porridge. She began to tremble, tearing up as Kuro walked around behind her to sit down on her other side, "Yummy!!" Tama exclaimed gleefully, "It's so delicious!" Luffy and Zoro smiled down at her as she happily ate her meal, crying tears of joy.

"Is this the first time you've eaten that?" Luffy asked in disbelief, falling silent for a few seconds as Tama confirmed his suspicion.

"It's got Mochi in it! This is such a luxurious meal!" she squeaked happily, "I'm so grateful!" Zoro and Luffy frowned at the thought of people like Tama nearly starving to death without anything to eat.

"This has to be my best birthday ever! I feel bad for my master, but..." she trailed off happily as she gleefully chanted the word 'Mochi' over and over again until Luffy interrupted her, "You can pop mochi from your cheek, can't you?" he inquired, Tama confirming his question, but noted that those mochis won't satisfy her hunger.

"Today is the best day of my life!" Tama exclaimed, crying happy tears as a huge grin was adorning her face.

After she finished eating, she soon fell asleep. Kiku carried her away from the talking group to let her catch some rest after eating for the first time in a long while. 

"Children like O-Tama can be found everywhere in the land of Wano," Tsuru sighed sadly, a long silence following.

The silence was only broken once Luffy spoke up, "It's crazy that a little girl like her can go hungry!" he growled, "Although, once she gets older, she can eat poisoned food," he added after a few seconds of thinking, ignoring Tsuru's intervention that, Tama, can, in fact, not eat the toxic food, even if she were to be older.

"There are rivers, mountains, and forests here. No one should have any trouble finding food," he continued, his scowl only deepening.

Tsuru agreed with him, sadly, before gasping, "Oh, how rude of me! What are your names?"

"I'm Zorojuro, a Ronin!" Zoro introduced himself, using his fake-identity.

"I'm Monkey D-"

"He's Luffytaro," Zoro interrupted Luffy, who was nearly blowing their cover.

Again.

"That's right. I'm Luffytaro!" Luffy corrected himself, "de-gozaru," he added after a short pause.

"And this is Kuro," Luffy exclaimed, picking the cat up and presenting her to Tsuru, "she's a cat," Kuro meowed and lifted a paw in what might be considered a greeting as she lazily opened her eyes, before climbing back onto Zoro's lap, falling back asleep rather quickly.

Tsuru started laughing happily, "You're foreigners, right? You talk strangely," when they just stared at her in shock, not answering, she continued, "I guess you managed to successfully enter this country..."

"How'd she notice?" Luffy whispered to Zoro, who didn't answer.

"Do not worry. Nobody will rat you out," Tsuru assured as she noticed their obvious discomfort, "I am also new to this town. And O-Kiku has only been here for a month," she explained.

"You said that this town was a town of leftovers, didn't you? Why's that?" Zoro asked, curiously changing the topic away from them.

"As the name suggests, we are 'leftovers' from the town where the government officials currently reside," she revealed, "That's how everyone ended up here."

"Tama told me about a place where the food isn't poisonous," Luffy inquired, silently asking where that place might be.

Tsuru pointed toward a mountain in the distance. That seemed to be the only place in sight where there is no smoke rising toward the sky. She told them that this was where a place called 'Oden Castle' used to be over twenty years ago.

"Oden Castle?" Zoro asked in surprise as Luffy was straining his brain to remember where he had heard of the name 'Oden' before. Kuro's head peaked up as well, the cat stretching slightly before jumping off of Zoro, and away from their conversation.

Zoro looked after the cat for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Tsuru, who just continued talking, "Over twenty years ago, the Kozuki Clan ruled over the land of Wano," she described, "as they had been for a very long time," Tsuru's eyes seemed far away, and almost wistful, as she retold the story of the old Kozuki Clan.

"Does that place have food without poison?" Luffy inquired further.

"It does... Delicious, safe to eat ingredients, clean water, and clothes..." she let out a long sigh, "but Shogun Orochi owns that farm now," her face darkened slightly as she mentioned the Shogun.

"Behind that Torii is a town where all of the government officials reside. We are the people and things they no longer need," she sounded almost angry, "We survive by buying the rotten ingredients they sell us."

"So that's why this place is called the town of leftovers!" Luffy concluded, thoughtfully.

"It's fine. At least we're able to survive here," Tsuru tried to sound reassuring, but, considering the situation, it didn't do much.

Zoro suddenly felt his Haki spike up again, as he quickly unsheathed one of his katanas to stop the arrow that was coming right for Tsuru's head.

"Who is it?!" Luffy shouted as Zoro sprang up, glaring at a quickly approaching figure in the air.

"I heard you, woman!" the man shouted.

Kuro stopped in her tracks as she heard shouting, quickly turning around, looking between Luffy, Zoro and Tsuru, and a bat-like man who was flying above them, shooting arrows.

"You were talking bad about the Shogun, weren't you?!"

"The Gifters...!" Some of the people passing by gasped in fear, others hiding immediately. Whereas Luffy and Zoro get ready to fight the man, as he had planned on killing Tsuru.

"If that hit her, she would've died!" Zoro growled, glaring up at the bat-man.

"If she had just kept to herself, and kept quiet, I wouldn't have had to do a thing!" the bat-man let out a sickening laugh, "But... Master Orochi would absolutely not tolerate any of that rebellious talk!" 

"You all had best be careful. We're currently hunting down thieves," bat-man said in a sickeningly cheerful voice, shooting a row of arrows at Zoro and Luffy. He suspected the two of them to have been the thieves who stole from the farm owned by the Shogun a few weeks ago.

His rambling halted once he realized that none of his arrows hit its targets, both of them having either dodged or destroyed the arrows. He took this time of confusion to examine Zoro's face more carefully, recognizing him as 'the Slasher,' once again.

While all this had played out, Kuro sneaked over to Tama, waking the sleeping girl, carefully pawing at her face. However, as soon as the girl was more or less awake, she, along with Kuro, was suddenly picked up without warning.

Kuro clawed to hold onto Tama, who had gripped the cat close to her chest, as their kidnapper speeded away with them at a speed much to fast for Tama's liking.

"Tama?! Kuro!!" Luffy shouted in shock as he immediately tried to run after them, as Tama shouted back for help. The last thing Kuro noticed was that Kiku jumped on the dog's, Komachiyo's, back, running after them, Luffy and Zoro joining them. 

And then they were out of sight.

The man, Gazelle-man as he introduced himself, called someone called 'Master Holdem,' informing the man that he captured the girl who tamed the baboon, while Tama kept screaming at him to let her go.

A growling voice answered Gazelle-man, "Well done. She should be useful. Bring her here," it snarled, Gazelle-man confirming his orders, before hanging up.

Kuro let out a low 'meow' as Tama hugged her even closer to herself, crying into Kuro's fur, as she kept screaming for Luffy. 

When Gazelle-man suddenly threw them to the ground in a room that seemed to be empty at first glance, Kuro started hissing toward a spot in front of her and Tama.

Once Tama's eyes adjusted to the light she started trembling, staring at this 'Holdem'-guy's belly.

The cat stayed right at her side, continuously hissing at the man and his belly.

"As expected, you brought her here quickly..." the man spoke toward Gazelle-man, asking whether he's sure that she is the correct child, however, Gazelle-man was too busy wheezing and huffing to actually answer his boss' questions.

"Oh, poor child..." Holdem cooed creepily, "she looks like she's about to cry."

"I... I ain't gonna cry!" Tama exclaimed, shaking like a leaf, Kuro instinctively moving closer to the girl, ready to fight for her if needed.

"That's enough! Get out of the way Gazelle-man!" Holdem snapped at his underling, "Your constant wheezing is annoying!" as Gazelle-man left, he called him a fool for not having better endurance, the creature Tama had been staring at, and Kuro had been hissing at, looking up at Holdem angrily.

"I wasn't talking to you!" he shouted at the creature in his belly, "Stop staring at my face all the time!" Holdem punched the creature's head, making it growl at him in anger.

Tama started crying at that, not able to hold back her tears for much longer, "He's so scary!" she wailed, balling her fists, "He's got a lion comin' out of his stomach!" Kuro moved even closer to Tama, trying to soothe the small girl.

Kuro momentary stopped hissing at the man and his lion, turning to look at Tama instead, the cat pawed and pushed against Tama's legs, seemingly urging her to leave this place, but Tama only picked the cat up, hugging her, "Big Bro Luffy will come and safe us!" she sniffled, stopping her tears, "I know it."

Suddenly both Holdem and his lion started screaming and withering in pain, his underlings mumbling something about a 'bullseye shot' as Tama and Kuro stared at the two of them in shock.

The lion had punched Holdem in his crotch, making the both of them squirm in pain.

Holdem was still shaking with the aftershock when he spoke to Tama, "Answer this, child. How did someone like you manage to tame that baboon all on your own?" when Tama didn't answer he spoke again, this time louder, "My subordinates saw you do it! You must have the power of an actual devil fruit!"

Tama was quiet for a few more moments, before she answered in a small tone, "I... I'm just really good with animals. That's all!" she was trembling as she pulled the cat ever-closer to her chest.

"They definitely said that you pulled something out of your cheek," Holdem insisted, startling Tama when he asked one of his subordinates to bring him some pliers.

"And get rid of that cat!" he shouted as he grabbed Kuro out of Tama's arms, throwing the cat across the room, "Cat!!" Tama shouted in shock as she watched the cat fly across the room.

Kuro slams against the wall before landing on the ground. She stumbled left to right, disoriented for a short moment until she sprinted toward Holdem, jumping on his head and attempting to scratch his eyes out.

Before Kuro could do any real damage, she was pulled off by Holdem and dropped toward the lion, who slashed across Kuro's face, excitedly, before slashing her across her back as well.

Kuro barely managed to escape a third slash that had been going for her neck as she scrambled back toward Tama, seemingly falling unconscious in front of the small girl, who was now staring between Holdem, holding a plier, and Kuro who was lying on the ground, barely conscious, struggling to keep her eyes open.

Meanwhile, Luffy, Zoro, Kiku, and Komachiyo, were entering the city of government officials. Zoro and Luffy had excited grins on their faces as Kiku was worrying for the little girl.

"Tama!! Kuro!!" Luffy screamed at the top of his lungs, "We're here to-" he let out startled sounds as Kiku held his mouth shut, "No, Luffytaro!" she pulled him back frantically, "You mustn't say things so rashly!"

"Everybody here is working with the ones who kidnapped O-Tama!" Kiku kept pulling Luffy backward, as a few of the subordinates circled the intruders. 

A grim smile spread across Luffy's face as he activated his conqueror's haki, the subordinates falling unconscious as the group kept going.

Kiku looked back at the unconscious men, shocked at what had just displayed, "Did you do something?" she asked Luffy, still shocked.

"Haki," was his simple reply, not explaining what just occurred any further.

"How are we supposed to find them?" Zoro intervened, looking around. He noticed that, among all of Orochi's subordinates, many did not look as though they would fight them, "Why's that?" he asked after stating his observations.

"The people living here, have been their entire lives," Kiku explained, "but then Orochi's subordinates came and took whatever houses they liked for themselves!" she explained, also stating that the only ones who were allowed to stay were important merchants and tradesmen, all the rest were sent out of the city.

As 'leftovers.'

Zoro's ever-present scowl deepened slightly.

Sudden screaming caught their attention as they saw someone flying toward them. Luffy swiftly caught the man who appeared to be some kind of sumo-wrestler.

"There must be something going on around here..." Zoro trailed off as he looked from the man in Luffy's hands toward the direction he came flying from.

They went toward the direction the sumo-wrestler came from, quickly approaching what seemed to be a competition that was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: July 26th


	3. A Scarred Cat

"O-Kikuu!!" The sumo-wrestler who was currently in the ring started panting happily as his eyes set upon Kiku, who seemed severely uncomfortable with this new turn of events.

"So you followed me here, after all! Have you decided to be my bride?!" he shouted excitedly. Many surrounding women started glaring at Kiku, thinking that she wanted to marry this man.

Cheering and shouting erupted from the crowd, along with the sumo-wrestler and the commentator.

Kiku groaned slightly as she tried to hide behind the much-smaller Zoro, who just sighed in return, "There's no point in trying to hide behind me," he said as he glanced at Kiku over his shoulder.

"He decides everything on his own..." she mumbled highly uncomfortable with the situation at hand.

While the sumo-wrestler got some of the other wrestlers to escort Kiku to him, Luffy growled, raising his voice to a loud shout, "Hey, more importantly... We're looking for someone! She's a kid named Tama! With her is a cat named Kuro!!" he started, "Tell me where we can find the boss of this town! They should be with him!!" he sighed in frustration as no one took notice of what he'd just said.

"Hey, Zoro, why'd you let them take her?!" Luffy screamed at Zoro, who frowned lightly, "Cuttin down naked men is a bit..." he frowned, trailing off.

'Besides... This woman can take care of herself...' he thought to himself.

Some of the bystanders started shouting, furious that a low-born like Kiku would dare set foot in the government official's city, though, the sumo-wrestler was quick to shut them down, "Silence you, filthy commoners! In the eyes of a samurai, you're all lower class!" he sounded furious, "Your lives are insignificant... It is I who decides whether you live, or whether you die by my hand!" his attitude suddenly changed completely as his gaze turned back toward Kiku, "Isn't that right, O-Kiku-chan? Become my wife!!" if one didn't know any better, they might think that his eyes had turned to hearts as he reached his arms out to catch the woman that was being carried toward him.

"I do not know of anyone whom you refer to as 'lower class,'" Kiku stated, unsheathing the katana that she had grabbed before leaving the dog's back.

Kiku was quick to jump up on the stage, slicing through the sumo wrestler's hair knot. A quick moment of shock passed as Kiku landed behind him gracefully, "Surely, you jest. The only vulgar thing here is your heart," she said, seriously, as everyone stared at the place where the sumo wrestler's top-knot used to be.

"Awesome!!" Luffy yelled excitedly, "Kiku is so cool!! It's getting interesting now!!" his eyes were wide as his mouth hung agape.

"It's too early to be calling out the boss!" Zoro said from behind Luffy as he watched the events unfold in front of them.

The sumo wrestler looked almost dead in his eyes as he slowly processed what Kiku had done to him. A scowl spread across his face as he turned to glare at Kiku, "O-Kiku!!! So, you betrayed me?!" he yelled, furious at this turn of events. 

When his face twisted into a menacing scowl, onlookers were shocked, comparing him to a demon, "Why did I... Do that in front of so many people?!" Kiku gasped in shock at her actions, "Please forgive me, Lord Urashima!" she took a few hesitant steps back as the sumo wrestler got ready to punch her away like he did the man who came flying toward them earlier.

Onlookers were shocked that he'd react that way, threatening to hit the woman he supposedly loved, "... But he's not the type of man to use it on a woman..." Kiku mumbled, shocked beyond belief at what she'd caused.

"Die! You low-class, inferior woman!" he roared as Kiku screamed in fright, however, before his palm could connect with her body, his incoming palm was stopped by Luffy, whose arm and hand were inflated to fit the size of Urashima's palm.

Luffy and Urashima kept pushing against each other's palm until they stumbled back from the impact, both flailing to stay in the ring, as Kiku cheered Luffy on enthusiastically.

Eventually, they both caught their footing, letting out a sigh of relief as they stood straight again, and the crowd erupted in cheers, excitement making its way across.

"What is your relation to O-Kiku? And what the hell did you do to block my Harite?!" Urashima roared as he glared at Luffy, "Get out of my way!" he continued without giving Luffy the chance to answer, "If I don't rip O-Kiku limb from limb, my honor will be tainted!" his face was an ugly grimace as Kiku took another step back in shock.

Zoro let out a sigh as he watched his captain fight the sumo wrestler.

He had grown so used to the feeling of being watched that the absence of that feeling made him be on edge. He didn't understand why, though, as he adjusted his position on the dog's back.

He didn't realize for how long he had spaced out when, suddenly, Luffy stretched his arm out much further than before, inflating it, before sending Urashima flying off into the city. People surrounding the ring gasped along with Kiku, as Zoro just let out another sigh.

All this was making him feel weirdly frustrated.

Another uproar began as people stared after Urashima, shocked beyond belief.

"He's Zorojuro!!" that snapped his attention back to reality as he glanced at the man, pointing his finger at him, "So what," they screamed in fear at his response.

"Don't tell me he's also part of that group?!" one of them exclaimed, taking a small step back, "With that strong female swordsman and the sumo wrestling shrimp!!" they slowly turned pale, and Zoro averted his eyes again.

There was no point in talking to them.

"Hey!!" Luffy screamed behind Zoro, making the man smirk at his captain, "Call this town's boss over here!" he demanded, "We came here to take back Tama and Kuro!!" he kept insisting on naming the cat as well, which irked something in Zoro, though, he wasn't aware of what it might mean.

People started screaming, calling them dangerous and rebels, as a few ran off toward where Urashima had destroyed the buildings.

"What should I do?" Kiku came up behind Zoro, asking for direction.

Zoro just sighed quietly, "Stop spacing out. I'm not going to watch your back!" he told her over his shoulder, not waiting for her reaction as he already started fighting the incoming enemies.

"Sh-should I cut them?" she tried again, this time, Zoro groaned inwardly, "Slice through them if you want to save Tama!" he shouted back, slicing through one of the men trying to come at him.

"I want to save her!" Kiku exclaimed, unsheathing her katana and finally starting to fight back, "Wait for me, Tama!!"

* * *

"Master Holdem!!" one of his subordinates screamed as he burst through the door, "A woman cut off the Yokozuna's top-knot!" he wheezed lightly, having run all the way here to tell him, "It caused a huge uproar!"

Holdem turned to look at his subordinate, scowling as he kept pulling at Tama's cheek with his plier, "And? What the hell do you want me to do about it?!" he growled, before turning back to Tama, "I'm busy right now. I'm trying to pinch this kid's cheek off!" he pulled harder, it had begun looking as though he was about to yank Tama's skin off at this point.

Tama was crying in pain, asking him to stop, even promising to give back the baboon, if he'd just stop hurting her.

But it was useless as he kept pulling her cheek, "You mentioned the Kozuki Clan earlier, didn't you?" he asked, as Tama flinched at the question, "You shouldn't cling to the dead," his voice was cold as he continued pulling at her cheek, "twenty years ago, the Kozuki Clan was planning to destroy this country. They were nothing but a family of evil!" he growled.

Kuro had kept trying to stand up during this whole ordeal, and she had even managed to do so at one point, but the lion had slashed the back of her legs, making it impossible for her to stand up properly. 

At least until she healed enough.

Currently, she was lying in a corner, trying to get closer to the wailing kid.

It was useless.

She was exhausted, her eyes heavy as she let out a quiet 'meow' toward Tama.

Before she managed to stand up properly, she was buried under the weight of the roof and upper levels.

The last thing she noticed before losing consciousness was the feeling of falling from a slight height.

* * *

"Come out here, Holpig!!" Luffy's voice boomed through the city, "If you did anything to Tama or Kuro, I'll never forgive you!!"

"If you're looking for the boss, here I am!" a growling voice came from one of the rooftops, "I am Holdem!" his exclamation was met with cheers of joy by his subordinates.

"So, you finally showed up!" Luffy shouted.

"I didn't really have a choice, did I?" he asked, angrily, "How dare you destroy my house with all of your sumo wrestling?!" he snarled down at Luffy as his lion growled in what seems to be agreement.

"Big bro...!" Tama cried out as the lion had her in his mouth.

"Tama!!"

"O-Tama!!"

Luffy and Kiku screamed at the same time, shocked and frantic to go in and save the girl.

"Urashima flew toward us... and now my house is in ruins!" Holdem continued, "What hole did you people crawl out of?" 

While Holdem kept on accusing them, Zoro looked around, almost frantically.

"Luffy..." Zoro mumbled, realizing something.

Kuro wasn't with them.

"The cat isn't with them," he mumbled, but it seemed as though Luffy didn't hear him.

"His stomach is a lion..." Luffy mumbled, and Zoro's eyes turned to look at it as well.

"I'm going to save you now, Tama!" Luffy grinned up at the little girl.

"I don't plan on returning her, you dumbass!" Holdem roared angrily.

"Where is Kuro?!" he suddenly exclaimed, growling up at Holdem, "What did you do with her, Holpig?!"

"It's 'Holdem'!" he growled in anger, "Kuro?" his face twisted into a grin, "The cat?" Luffy growled a 'yes' at that, "It's dead!" he started laughing hysterically, "Kamijiro sure had fun tearing that cat up!!"

Zoro's eye widened at that revelation, and Luffy's face twisted into an angry snarl, ready to jump in and beat the living hell out of that man, only to be stopped by Kiku, who held him back, frantically.

* * *

In the ruins of Holdem's house, a small woman with cat ears emerged, crawling out, as she coughed violently. She was covered in blood, dirt, and soot.

It was hard for her to stay conscious, as he had lost a lot of blood. Her muscles and joints ached as she tried to get rid of some of the blood staining her clothes and the fur of her ears. Some blood was still leaking out of her still-open wounds along her back and legs.

She took a quick look around, looking for the friend who was just with her, but she didn't see anyone around as far as her green eyes could see.

She tried to stand up, using the remaining wall of Holdem's house to try and get her legs to cooperate, but it was to no avail. Every time she managed to stand more or less upright, her knees gave in, failing her under the pressure she tried to put on them.

'That stupid lion...' she thought to herself as her breathing grew heavy.

This body was too heavy for her legs at this moment. She knew that she had to turn back again.

It's the only way she'll be able to find them again. Who knows what this creep is planning on doing with her.

She could just hope that the kid was still alive at this point.

After the cat took a quick look around, she started limping through the ruins the sumo wrestler left behind.

Holdem must have gone there to confront whoever threw the man.

And if Holdem is there... then the girl might be, too.

* * *

"Big Bro!!" Tama screamed as Holdem kept mocking Luffy and his friends.

"Go ahead, and try to make a move! Kamijiro, the lion in my stomach will rip her to pieces!!" the lion growled at that, tightening its grip on Tama.

"Let Tama go! I'll beat that lion up if you don't!" Luffy shouted in response.

Zoro kept looking on quietly as Luffy got more and more riled up over Tama, who was screaming their names, crying.

"Answer this one question for me, you idiots!" Holdem laughed loudly, "Did you know about this girl's ability?" he roared, his laughter ceasing, "We're going to hold you all hostage so that we can lure out Shutenmaru!" he announced, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Who's that?" Luffy asked, trying to figure out a way to get to Tama without the lion hurting her.

"Don't play dumb!" Holdem snapped, "He's the leader of your gang of thieves, isn't that right?!" his eyes widened into an ugly grimace as a malicious grin spread across his features, "You Atamayama thieves were responsible for the thieveries at the farm, right?!" he sounded so sure of himself as he spoke with a mocking tone, "If you were able to defeat someone as strong as Urashima, even if it was just by sheer luck, then you must be one of his subordinates," Holdem concluded smugly.

"Luffytaro... Whatever you do," Kiku whispered from behind him, "don't make him angry."

Luffy turned to look at her over his shoulder, looking exasperated, "But he's already angry!" he complained.

"I know, but we don't want to make him **angrier**!" she explained quietly, "Needless to say, he's strong... But more importantly," she continued, looking around at the crowd surrounding them and Holdem, "the people of this town are afraid of who backs him," she took a deep breath before continuing, "he's one of Kaido's most trusted warriors and a formidable member of the Beast Pirates. His name is Jack the Drought, and he is the true ruler of Kuri."

Zoro's head snapped toward them at the mention of that name, "Isn't he the guy that destroyed Zou?!" he asked Luffy, who gasped in shock, "That was him?!"

"The cat and dog told us that he poisoned them... Didn't the elephant send him and his crew flying away?" Luffy mumbled to himself, as a highly confused look went over Kiku's face at the mention of so many animals, "Wait! I was sure that Jack and his ship sank to the bottom of the ocean!" he exclaimed, suddenly, remembering something that must've happened a while ago.

"So, you witnessed Jack's maritime accident?" Kiku asked, "There's no way he's dead... He was spotted in this area a few days ago," she explained, "That's why, if we anger Holdem, Jack, a calamity, will come to take revenge... and this town will become a wasteland..." she sounded frantic, as she tried to persuade the straw hat to be cautious around Holdem.

"What?! That's just dirty! That would mean that these people living here are nothing but hostages, doesn't it?!" Luffy sounded furious and desperate at the same time.

"What are you mumbling about over there?!" Holdem caught their attention again as he noticed they were ignoring him, "Hurry up and try to rescue this girl!" he laughed mockingly, "Remember, though, the moment you make your move, she'll be ripped apart!" his laugh got louder when the lion bit her harder to demonstrate.

When Tama's cries reached Luffy's ears, he jumped slightly, "Stop it, you bastard!!" it was stressing him out that he couldn't just freely go and beat this man and lion up as he pleased. If the people here were to suffer because of his actions...

Luffy grit his teeth as Tama kept crying in pain and fear.

* * *

Kuro's stomach growled as the cat looked up at a wagon full of food. It was carried by several people, a horsewoman at their front. Hiding her Haki, she jumped up on the back, trying to stay hidden.

Or at least she tried jumping up.

Her legs were still hurting, and before she could stagger even close to the wagon, it was already out of reach again.

She let out quiet sounds of frustration as she forced herself to run, every muscle in her being hurting from the effort as she felt more blood run down the back of her legs.

It all seemed to be worth it in the end as she successfully managed to jump high enough to dig her claws into the wooden back of the wagon. She strained to pull herself up, immediately falling down, exhausted as the wagon kept driving.

She can't even remember the last time she had seen so much food in one place as she wistfully stared at the mountain of food right there in front of her. If she'd just manage to crawl a little further.

* * *

"There's so much food!!" Luffy drooled as his stomach started rumbling in hunger.

"They're provisions from the paradise farm," Kiku explained to him, "All of the food there is grown with pure, clear water. It's safe food!" she finished, almost dreamily.

Luffy growled at that, "Why do only these guys...?!" he was angry. While everyone in Okobore Town is starving, people here get safe food from the paradise farm...

"Zoro!!" Luffy exclaimed, catching the man's attention, "You take care of the ones on that side!" he pointed toward the wagon, "I'll rescue Tama!" as soon as those words left his mouth, his attention was already back on Holdem.

Zoro turned to glance at Kiku, "Kiku!" he grabbed her attention, "I'm sorry, but we're going to have to make this a 'steal and run'!" 

"Huh?! Why's that?" Kiku sounded frantic.

"I'm sure he'll be angry, but it'll be better than sending him flying off somewhere," Zoro explained, but Kiku was still confused.

Before he could explain further, Holdem 'chose' Kiku to be executed to reduce the number of hostages. She was grabbed before anyone could intervene, but Luffy used this moment of distraction to activate his Gear Two and quickly jump up to save Tama from the lion's grasp. Holdem was caught by surprise as a sudden pain erupted in his stomach.

While they were all distracted by Holdem shouting in anger, Zoro used this opportunity to slash through the man holding Kiku, Komachiyo grabbing the woman in his snout and running after Zoro, who pointed him toward the wagon full of food.

Before Luffy followed the wagon, he turned around, enraged at what information Tama had related him.

"He went ahead and hit him!" Zoro couldn't do anything but stare on in shock as Komachiyo kept pulling the wagon to the edge of town.

Zoro told the dog to keep going no matter what, as Luffy disappeared from sight.

It didn't take long before people stood in their way, "Hey, you!! You're standing in the road!" Zoro roared loudly, "Get out of our way! We're in a bit of a rush!" when they didn't listen, Komachiyo and the wagon ran over a few people, but one of them still managed to jump up on the wagon, grabbing Zoro by the front of his Kimono in anger.

"You bastard!!" he snarled at Zoro, who recognized the angry man instantly, "Oh. Hey Tra-guy," he let out a nonchalant greeting, only managing to anger the man further.

"You promised over and over again that you wouldn't cause any trouble! And now, not only did you make yourself a wanted man, but you also did something that will make Jack come here!" when Zoro kept quiet, he continued his scolding, "You were supposed to be acting as a Ronin in the Flower Capital! Why the hell are you in Kuri?!" he growled in anger, huffing slightly.

"Zorojuro! We made it out of town!" Kiku yelled back at them, Zoro turning toward her with a smirk adorning his face, completely ignoring the enraged Law.

"All right! Let's drop these provisions off at Okobore Town!"

Cries of joy erupted when they arrived at Okobore town, waking up an unsuspecting cat-woman as she sat up, before quickly hiding her identity again.

Kuro stumbled forward to quickly munch on an apple before she stumbled further, over to the side of the wagon, to see what all this commotion was about, only to run into a scowling man with a spotted hat.

Kuro froze in her place, staring up at the scary-looking man who now crouched down to her shaking form.

"You're hurt..." he mumbled before picking the cat up, careful not to put too much pressure on her injuries, and walking back to the front of the wagon, meeting Zoro.

"Is this your cat?" he asked, snapping Zoro's eye to him and the cat almost instantly. Law raised his eyebrows at that, finding this newly revealed information interesting. What was this guy doing with a cat?

"She's alive?!" he sounded shocked as he took in the state that the cat was in.

She was overrun with blood, her normally white ear and socks being smeared with blood as a huge claw-mark made its way across her face.

Law quickly jumped off as the citizen of Okobore Town scrambled onto the wagon, Zoro quickly following after him and Kuro.

'How is she alive?'

"It's water!!" he heard his captain shout, "It's not poisonous! And it's free! Take as much as you want!!" he shouted as Law made his way toward the huge water bowl, taking some in a small bowl.

"Hey! Tra-guy!" he exclaimed happily, "I haven't seen you in ages!" 

Law sat on the ground, cross-legged as he cleared the cat's wounds with the water. He glanced up at Luffy and the commotion in front of them, "Strawhat-ya... This is a rebellion against the land of Wano..." he mumbled before he was interrupted by Luffy shouting, "Kuro?!"

"Keep your distance!" Law scolded the straw hat, as he was about to grab the cat away from him, "I'm trying to clean its wounds!" the cat let out a soft 'meow' at that, glancing up at Luffy and Zoro tiredly.

"Cat?" Tama came to a stop beside them, "She's a cat again..." she mumbled, more to herself than anyone else, but Zoro still managed to pick up on it, frowning in confusion.

'What else would she be?'

"Oh! Tama, here!" Luffy exclaimed, placing an apple in Tama's hands.

Tama stared at the apple in awe, seemingly forgetting about Kuro for now, "An apple!" she chimed happily as Luffy nodded, "This is my repayment for the food that you gave me!" he smiled brightly, "And this is just the start of it!"

Before long, Luffy was already running toward the other citizen, shouting at them to leave some of the food for him.

When Law finished cleaning Kuro's wounds, the cat tried standing up again, stumbling out of Law's lap and toward Zoro, meowing loudly as if to complain to the male about almost leaving her behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: August 16th


	4. A Cat on a Mission

Zoro stared down at the cat in his lap. She seemed to be sleeping as she didn't make a sound, lying still as he carefully ran his hand over the wound on her back.

She doesn't even flinch, which had Zoro frowning in concentration.

Just what has this cat gone through to manage even standing upright with all those wounds?

'Are all cats like that?'

He made a mental note to ask Chopper about it, once they met up, thinking that if anyone knew the answer to that question, it would be the reindeer.

Before long, the citizen of Okobore town were full to their hearts' contents, and the wagon was empty and destroyed as it lay scattered on the ground.

"Tama! Don't be happy with all this food just yet!" Luffy exclaimed, "I'll make this the norm for you!" he had a deep frown on his face as his mind wandered to the reason Tama and the other citizen had to starve for such a long time in the first place, "I'll make sure that by the time we leave this country, it'll be a place where you can eat until you're full every day!" he told her, making her tear up.

"Hm?" Luffy hummed in surprise as he saw her tear-stained face, "That wouldn't make you happy?" he looked at her, surprised.

Tama shook her head as she turned away, sniffling, "No, of course, it would make me happy! I'm just a little surprised..." she rubbed at her eyes, trying to get rid of the tears.

"Jeez..." Zoro sighed as he placed the cat on his shoulder when it tried to walk again, "You're being too reckless... We've got a full-blown pursuit on our hands now... Prepare yourselves for it," he had a scolding tone in his voice, the cat meowing in what might seem as agreement, pawing at Zoro's shoulder.

"I don't wanna hear that coming from you!!" Law snapped at him, already tired of this whole ordeal, "Anyway," he took a deep breath to calm himself, "Let's move to another location!" he pinched the bridge of his nose, "We're going to the ruins of Oden Castle... At the top of the mountain over there," he pointed toward the mountain where the castle used to be.

"We're going to meet the ghosts of the land of Wano," he concluded.

"Ghosts?" Luffy asked in surprise, looking from Law toward the mountain he had been pointing at.

"You'll be surprised when you see them..." Law muttered, Zoro agreeing with a grim face, "You will learn of an unbelievable truth."

They got ready to leave, entrusting Tama to the Headliner Speed, "Take care of her! I'm counting on ya, Umami!" Luffy waved as Tama sat on Speed's back, holding another apple.

Speed lectured Luffy on how he should address her properly before Tama thanked him again, "Big Bro... The taste of the Shiruko, and of this apple... I'll never forget 'em!" she had tears of joy in her eyes again as she looked down at Luffy, "I'll give an apple to master, too!" she squealed in excitement.

"Yeah! Tell Grandpa Nose I said 'Hi'! We'll bring your dog back, too! I promise!" he smiled brightly at the little girl, matching the big grin on her face.

"Also... Can I keep this for a little while longer?" he asked, holding up the katana for her to see, "Without this, I can't be a samurai!" he reasoned, as Zoro's eye drifted to the sword once again, "You still haven't used it. Lemme see it, seriously," he tried to persuade his captain once again. 

But to no avail.

"See ya later, Tama!!" Luffy didn't even listen to what Zoro was saying as he waved after his small friend, riding off on the horsewoman's back.

"Luffytaro!!" some kids shouted as he jumped on Komayachi's back, "Thank you for the treasure ship!!" all the citizen shouted in unison, as Luffy looked at them, surprised, "We've never had a feast like this!!" some of the kids cried, while other thanked him, too.

"Pirates doing 'good' things..." Law mumbled to himself, "Makes me want to vomit."

"We did a good thing, didn't we?" Luffy chimed toward Kiku and Zoro, grinning brightly.

"I thought we committed a robbery..." Kiku replied uncomfortably, while Luffy just waved in parting to the citizen.

Kuro watched the scenery pass quietly as the dog took off, eventually slipping off Zoro's shoulder and landing in his lap, as the man caught the cat before it could fall off the dog's back.

"Careful there," Zoro mumbled, carefully positioning the cat so she wouldn't strain any of her wounds until they arrived at the top of the mountain.

'She needs stitches.'

"That's right!" Luffy learned over Zoro's shoulder, reaching down to pet Kuro's head, "how is she alive? Didn't Holpig say she'd died?" Kuro tilted her head at the males in front of her as she weakly pawed at Luffy's hand, lightly flinching with every movement.

"He must've not seen right when he left..." Zoro offered as Kuro meowed in response. 

"That tickles!" Luffy laughed lightly as Kuro licked his fingers.

Zoro rapidly got annoyed by his captain as he kept pushing Zoro forward to get a better grasp on the small cat in the man's lap.

"So..." Law started, catching the two boys' and Kiku's attention, "Why are you coming with us?" he asked, looking at Kiku over his shoulder, catching the woman off-guard.

"I'm sorry... I've just always wanted to see Oden Castle!" she defended herself, but Zoro felt as though she wasn't telling the entire truth.

Either way, he didn't push the matter, instead opting to just pick up the cat and handing it to Luffy so his captain would finally leave him alone for a few seconds.

Kuro mewled quietly as Luffy sat down back-to-back with his swordsman, "I was so worried, Kuro," he gushed at the small cat, who just stared at him, "Don't do that again!" he scolded her, receiving an agitated 'meow!' from the cat.

Zoro glanced over his shoulder.

'Is she scolding him?'

"After we arrive there, I can make my way back. I apologize for the trouble!" Kiku waved her hands in front of her, frantically.

Luffy looked up from the cat in his lap, grinning, "You're a good person, Kiku! It's okay!" he chimed all the while petting Kuro's head lightly, making the cat purr in delight.

"But she's hiding something," the smirk was audible in Zoro's voice as he glanced at Kiku over his shoulder. 

Kiku flinched slightly at his words.

* * *

"We're here," Law stated as he jumped off the dog's back, Kiku following suit.

"There's no castle!" Luffy exclaimed, shocked, as he stared at where the castle should've been.

"Yes. That's why it's called the 'ruins,'" Law stated, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yes..." before Luffy could jump off as well, Kiku teared up, running away quickly, "Oi! Kiku!" he stared after her, confusion masking his face, "What's with her?" he asked no one in particular, earning only another 'meow' by his furry companion.

"Yeah... Zoro's gone, too..." he said as if he'd interpreted Kuro's 'meow' as a remark about the greenette missing, "he somehow managed to get lost even though he was on the dog's back..." Luffy sounded disappointed as he looked at the forest behind them.

"Over here, Straw Hat-ya!" Law called from afar. 

"This place gives me the creeps," he said as he jumped off the dog.

"Yeah, twenty years of being deserted will do that," Law mumbled as Luffy approached, Kuro on his shoulder, his eyes filled with confusion, "Graves?"

They soon widened in shock as he processed the information those graves held within them, "Wh- What?!" he stumbled over his words, reading the names aloud, "Why are their graves here?! Did they die?!" he exclaimed in shock, "Come to think of it... I couldn't get in touch with them... and..." Luffy trailed off, shock set in.

"Where's Kin'emon?!" he turned to Law, his voice accusatory, "I thought he was waiting here!"

"He's gone," Law replied, calmly, "Has been, for a while now."

"Gone?!" Luffy repeated louder, not believing this new set of information.

"But he might _come out_ at night..." Law lowered his head, "he did last night. As he did for many nights before."

"What do you mean?! Is he some kinda ghost?!" Luffy almost screamed at this point, "Why the hell is his grave here?!" he demanded, "Spit it out! Did something happen that's hard to talk about?!" he grabbed the front of Law's kimono, Kuro flailing slightly by Luffy's sudden movement.

"It's not something I can just tell you..." he defended himself, as Luffy growled at him.

"Are they alive?! Tell me!" he demanded again, when suddenly, sounds caught Kuro's ears, making her turn her head toward the ruins.

Someone was exiting them, making Kuro strengthen her grip on Luffy's kimono.

"Oh! Luffy! I'm so glad you're safe!" the man shouted over in greeting, "Forgive me for not even coming to meet you..." he trailed off as he slowly stumbled out into the light. He was extremely pale, as he slowly stumbled toward Luffy, "I'm afraid I've come down with severe diarrhea."

"Kin!" Luffy exclaimed loudly, "So you're okay!" he turned to look at Law, "See? They were alive, after all, Traffy!"

"I never said they were dead," Law stated, "I thought he'd come out of the toilet at night," he replied as though he didn't just insinuate the death of Kin'emon and the others.

"Quit telling me ghost stories, then!" Luffy's face twisted into an angry snarl as he screamed at Law.

Before any of them could react, someone came running toward them, "Lord Kin!" they shouted at they threw themself at the man, "I see you've returned! I wanted to see you so badly, I was trembling!" the woman, who revealed herself to be Kiku squealed in joy as she and Kin'emon tumbled to the ground.

"Kiku! Why are you with them?!" Kin'emon was shocked, questioning her from below.

"Why didn't you let me know you'd returned?" she scolded, instead of answering his question, "I was so worried! How aloof of you!" Kin'emon struggled to get her off him as she continued scolding him, "Is lord Momonosuke alright, too?"

"Huh? They know each other?" Luffy tilted his head as Kuro repositioned herself, straining her muscles to climb up on Luffy's head, instead. She was already starting to feel better, not as incapable of moving as before.

"They definitely know each other," Law concluded as he watched Kin'emon struggle with the woman.

"Wait! Lord Kin!" Kiku's attention suddenly slipped back to the straw hat and his companion, "Don't tell me these men-"

"I don't know who or what to start with, but, Kiku! These men are our friends!" Kin interrupted her, "And they're quite strong, too!"

"Oi!!" a little kid came running out of the ruins and toward Luffy, "Luffy! You made it!" he seemed excited as he held up his practice sword over his head, slashing through the air, "Look! I was just practicing my swordsmanship!" he exclaimed as he demonstrated what he'd learned.

"Yo, Momo!" Luffy grinned at the boy, "You're here, too? Did that old dog guy come, too?" he asked, before being interrupted by Kiku, "Wha-? 'Momo'?! Luffytaro! That's quite rude! That boy is-" she tried to scold Luffy, but was interrupted by Momonosuke himself, "It's okay, Kiku."

Before she could react, another voice shouted out, "Oi!" several people, including a skeleton, a bunny, and a reindeer, came walking out of the woods, and Kuro didn't get much warning, before she was suddenly thrown backward, resulting in a scream of pain by Luffy, as she had pulled his hair.

The bunny-girl that had thrown herself at Luffy, retaliated, confused, "What's-" she started but then spotted the cat that was clinging to Luffy's hair, as her claws somehow got stuck in her fright, "Oh, no! Let me help!" bunny-girl exclaimed before carefully removing the cat from Luffy's hair, and holding it an arm's length away from her to examine the state she was in.

"Choniki!" she exclaimed, quickly turning around with the cat in her hands, showing her to the reindeer, who quickly changed form, taking the cat from her and making quick work to get her patched up.

"I didn't know you had a cat, Luffy," the reindeer exclaimed, looking at Luffy over his shoulder as he slowly approached, "She's actually Zoro's cat..." he answered before looking around, "Though he managed to get lost again," he started laughing, finding amusement in Zoro's lack of direction.

It didn't take long before Kuro was covered in stitched and bandages.

She looked up at Chopper, thanking him with a small 'meow!' before looking around, letting out another 'meow' before running off, Chopper waving after her, "Don't strain your stitches!" he shouted only slightly agitated.

Kuro heard Luffy asking what she'd said, and Chopper answering that she needs to find Zoro, before she was out of earshot, running through the woods.

At least like this, her hearing and smell were better, so she didn't have a hard time catching his trail.

* * *

"Jeez... Those guys..." Zoro mumbled to himself as he looked around himself, "Where in the world did they run off to...?" he scowled in confusion, looking back at the huge tiger that had tried to attack him just now, "I'm amazed that they could get lost even while I was riding on that Komainu..." he sighed, when suddenly, something caught his eye, "Oh, it's a wharf! Maybe I should catch a ride?" he thought to himself, as he made his way over.

But before he was even halfway there, something else caught his mind. 

Someone... or something was charging toward him.

'Another tiger?' he thought, as he got ready to unsheath his katana if need be, however, when he turned to look behind him, he was surprised as a small cat jumped, clawing at his kimono, meowing furiously at him, until he grabbed the cat by the back of its neck, holding her up to his face.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned, "Shouldn't you be with Luffy?" the cat didn't make a sound, but instead, tried to swat at his face with her claws out as if to scold him for leaving without her.

Zoro sighed, "Whatever..." he placed the cat back on his shoulder, "We've got a ride to catch," he said as he turned back around, walking toward the wharf once again.

'At least she got stitches now.'

When they arrived at the wharf, the owner told Zoro that they'd leave right away, so almost as soon as Zoro sat down, Kuro now in his lap, the owner prepared to leave.

The owner, a small man, offered Zoro and the other men that were riding alongside them, some of his Wasabi to eat during the ride.

They, of course, would need to pay for them, but only after the ride is finished.

Zoro ate one after another, but each time the Wasabi touched his tongue, he couldn't help but scrunch his face up at how spicy it was. 

Intrigued by this, Kuro repositioned in his lap, and grabbed a Wasabi herself, before Zoro could stop her. However, she was quick to regret that decision, as she felt her tongue explode at how spicy the Wasabi was.

She had a rising suspicion, that, while Wasabi can be spicy, it surely wasn't supposed to be _this_ spicy.

She went back to finish the Wasabi nonetheless because if she didn't she feared Zoro might make fun of her, even though that would make him look weird for talking to a cat.

She felt extremely hot after she finished the whole thing, making a note to herself to never do such a thing again. Zoro seems strong, and if even he scrunches up his face at how spicy something is, maybe she should just accept the memo and not try it for herself.

Her tastebuds would surely thank her for that.

After Zoro ate another Wasabi, she almost fell off his lap, when he began flailing for the sake that was placed on the seat next to him. She looked up at him in what seemed to be a mix between annoyance and amusement as she let out a quiet 'meow', almost instantly grabbing his attention, as he scowled down at her.

"Don't."

Was all he said before his attention was grabbed by the man beside him, his face slightly red, though that could also be due to the spicy food.

Kuro had seen some of the older men in the town she used to 'live' in getting red in the face if they ate something spicy.

Just like Zoro.

Kuro looked up at the man next to them as he mentioned Luffy's name, quickly skimming over the paper before she froze in her spot. 

It said that Luffy got into a fight with Kaido. The man who was secretly ruling over the Land of Wano.

Kuro glanced up at Zoro to catch his reaction, as he sputtered the sake he had been drinking right in the owner's face, causing a ruckus as the men screamed at him, asking him if he'd even be able to pay for the food in the first place.

Zoro ignored them all as he grabbed the paper from the man to look at the picture of Luffy, before scrunching the paper in his hand, shaking in anger, "What the hell were you thinking, Luffy?!" he growled almost too quiet for anyone but Kuro to hear.

Luffy should be on his way to prison at this point... 

Kuro let out a small whine, as the boat came to a halt, the small man that had been sitting in front of them had paid for Zoro's ride on the boat along with the Sushi he had eaten. When the man stood up, Kuro realized that he wasn't as small as she thought he was. In reality, he was almost taller than Zoro, however, that might only be because of the size of his head.

When they got off the boat, Zoro placed Kuro back on his shoulder, where she held on, while Zoro went in a random direction. She didn't know whether Zoro had any idea where he might be going, but from what she could tell, it was the same direction the grinning man was going into, as he was right behind the two of them.

She let out a 'meow' to let Zoro know of her observations but the male just nodded without saying anything.

Kuro looked at him in surprise. Did he actually understand her? Or was he just guessing at what she was saying to him?

Or maybe she was going crazy.

Or he was. He's the one talking to a cat here.

She hadn't actually slept in days. The closest she had been to sleep was when she was knocked out by the wall landing on top of her, but she could hardly think of that as sleep.

They were walking for a while, when suddenly, it started raining, Kuro tried hiding under Zoro's coat, not wanting to get soaked, but as her paws brushed against his swords the man pulled her out and held her against his chest, instead, searching shelter under the roof of a nearby building.

The man stood next to them as Kuro peeked over at him, curiously watching the ever-present grin that stretched over his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: September 6th


	5. A Cat-Girl

Kuro looked around the room they were in, occasionally walking back to Zoro to see what he was up to, but quickly losing interest again, as all he did was watching the cup with dices on the table.

Kuro had immediately recognized what his winning streak had meant.

He cheated, using his haki to determine the sum of the faces.

As Zoro ate and chugged down more of his sake, Kuro concentrated on the dices underneath the cup. Zoro had won a few rounds already, paying back the kind man as well. 

In return, the man had proclaimed Zoro the 'manliest man in the Land of Wano,' stating that he would keep traveling with Zoro, as he feels that he'd never miss a meal with Zoro around to win the money to afford it.

Kuro had known that Zoro was kind the moment he didn't just leave her to die in that alleyway. Anyone else would've just left her or put her out of her misery as a stray cat, but not Zoro.

He actually took her back to his room to clean her wound, even going as far as to let her spend the night as well.

So when she noticed the man with the dices cheating himself, she was upset. Sure, Zoro had cheated first, but she was still upset that someone would try to cheat Zoro. 

When the man lifted the cup, Zoro's eye widened.

He knew that the man must've cheated him, as he knew for a fact, that it landed on an odd number.

The kind man tried to comfort Zoro as Zoro just stared down at the dices on the other side of the table. The dealer, on the other side, smirked to himself in triumph as he thought Zoro was unsuspecting of what just went down.

Zoro scowled a the dealer as he asked for bets on the new round. The other patrons watched Zoro, worriedly, as they awaited his next move.

"Even!" he stated, smirking as he went all-in. The kind man was exclaiming happily as Kuro went back around the table, going to stand behind Zoro as she felt something was about to happen to the dealer on the other side of the table.

Zoro narrowed his eye as the dealer revealed the odd number on the dices, and Zoro activated his armament Haki on his arm, readying himself for the next move he quickly turned, and something like a tornado broke out in the small room, making Kuro fly straight toward Zoro, where she clawed onto his kimono.

The tatami mats and the low table flew off the ground, revealing a man who was crouching underneath. Exactly where the table used to be, before the wind went up and tore a hole in the ceiling, letting the rain pour inside.

"Oh! That's a cheat!" the kind man exclaimed, watching the now embarrassed man in the ground, as Zoro stared at the wall, his back turned toward the men, "They're so uncool..." his voice was low, as he turned around to watch one of the cheating men run away in fright.

The owner of the establishment called in some armed men, who circled Zoro. Zoro smirked in excitement, "Oh, you can offer cool hospitality, too," at that, Kuro quickly tightened her hold on Zoro's kimono, guessing that he wouldn't mind, as she didn't want to fall off.

"Guys get him!" one of the men shouted as the first tried to slice Zoro, who dodged swiftly, snatching the katana from the man, before raising the sword over his head, ready to strike the men who were now charging toward him.

Zoro slashed a clear line down, without actually cutting the men.

They all passed out as they fell to the ground, and Kuro stared up at the swordsman she was clinging to.

The kind man was also surprised as he stared at the men on the ground, the owner shaking in fear as Zoro approached him. Zoro stared down at him before the kind man stepped in front of Zoro, stopping him from cutting the owner as well, "As they say, there are evens and odds in this world. Both good and evil come in turn. Let's put an end to this here!" he said, before clapping his hands together, "Okay?!"

Zoro hummed in agreement before the kind man turned to look at the man behind him, "Now, manager, there was an objection to the last game," he stated, the smile on his face making him seem oddly menacing, as his voice lowered a few octaves, "So, how about giving this gentleman what he won up to that point?" he offered.

The manager reluctantly pulled out a bag of money from his kimono, looking as though the action itself was physically hurting him as he groaned in pain, "Damn" Take it! Don't ever come back!" he exclaimed, throwing the bag of money on the ground.

The rain had long since stopped when the three of them made their way to the Ruins of Kibi, Kuro was sitting on Zoro's shoulder again as she watched the kind man who had introduced himself as Tonoyasu skipping along next to them.

"If I'm with you, mister, I won't be missing any meals!" he chirped happily, Zoro sighing in annoyance, "Look, can you shut up for just a little?" he questioned, exasperated, making Tonoyasu laugh in amusement.

He danced happily alongside Zoro as he kept chattering, "Shut it? How kind of you!" Zoro didn't say anything as he frowned down at the male beside him, "I suppose it's hard to worry about someone else's throat, no?" he asked, catching Kuro slightly off-guard. Had she misinterpreted Zoro's intention? "You pretty boy!" his grin seemed to widen just slightly... if that's even possible, "I bet the girls can barely keep their hands off you, young mister!" he flattered happily, as Kuro's eyes drifted from Tonoyasu to Zoro, considering his words.

"Look, I appreciate you paying for my Sushi, but..." Zoro started, but was interrupted by Tonoyasu, "Nonsense! No need to thank me!" he chimed, "I realized the moment I saw you! I couldn't go wrong if I followed you! I knew it!" he exclaimed, laughing happily.

"I paid my last two pennies, and then I was flat broke! The rest was luck!" he continued as Zoro chugged down several gulps of sake, Kuro watching him curiously.

What's with people and sake?

It merely made her feel dizzy every time she tried it, though Zoro seemed fine to her, so maybe it was just her?

Or maybe Zoro's sake is different?

"And then you... At that next inn, you gambled big!" the kind man was still talking when Kuro glanced back at him the next time, "They sure were mad! Those gamblers came after us with katanas in the air!" he kept going, making weird moves along the way, "And then you threw them this way and that! This way and that!" Zoro let out another sigh, while Kuro kept looking at the man curiously, "I didn't say anything, but normally no one messes with those guys. They're the Yakuza of the capital. Underlings of the Kyoshiro Clan," he explained, and Kuro's eyes widened just slightly.

"Seriously, I was scared beyond belief! If I was a girl, my knees would've given way!" Kuro's eyes hardened slightly as she let out an agitated 'meow' at his statement.

Suddenly, Zoro hummed in thought, "I feel like I've seen this place before, Kasu."

Did he just? Kuro stared at the side of his head in disbelief.

"Kasu*?" the kind man laughed heartily, "You're not wrong, but it's Yasu!" he laughed before answering Zoro's question, "The city you see in the distance is the flower capital! And right in front of it is a little Hamlet called 'Leftover's Town!' That's my town, Ebisu!" he sounded happy as he revealed this information, but Kuro couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the revelation. 

Is it going to be like Okobore Town?

"Why 'Ebisu?'" he started, going to answer a question that hadn't been asked, "You'll see once we get there!" he exclaimed.

As they approached the town, the laughter echoing off it got louder and louder, until it got to a point where the laughter was making Kuro feel uncomfortable to the point where she was about to just run away from the noise.

Especially when she's like this, her hearing is heightened, among other senses, so loud or crowded areas usually make her nervous.

"Oh, you're back! Tonoyasu!" one of the elder men shouted happily, laughing.

"Even though you just got home, we can't feed ya!!" another laughed loudly.

"I'm starving to death over here!!" a child cried tears of joy as it laughed loudly, only heightening the uncomfortable feeling that had begun to set in Kuro's chest.

A confused look took over Zoro's features as he watched the citizen, "They're so cheerful..." he said in a low rumble, "This town is a little different from the Leftover's Town in Kuri..." 

"You're quite the sharp one!" Tonoyasu laughed, "Everyone here looks happy, right?!"

'Or as though they're about to kill us all...' Kuro thought, letting out a quiet mewl in discomfort.

"That's because, out of all the living creatures in this world, humans are the only ones that can laugh!" he reasoned, "It'd be a waste if we didn't make use of it! A massive waste!" he laughed loudly, only adding to the noise surrounding this town.

Zoro looked around at the people shouting, laughing, and crying tears of joy as they laughed about the saddest things imaginable until something caught his attention, "Tonoyasu, who's the Ronin?!" a child's voice spoke up, "He's carrying three swords on his waist, and a cat on his shoulders," the kid barely managed to ask the question before bursting out in laughter.

Kuro moved closer to Zoro's head as they mentioned her.

Usually, people don't really take notice of her...

Except for Zoro and his friends...

Zoro kept quiet as they made jokes about his swords, but he shifted slightly when they talked about Kuro, "he looks almost cute with a small cat, like that!" one of them laughed.

"It's got bandages all-over it!!" another laughed louder.

Kuro basically pressed against Zoro's face now, but he didn't bother moving her away from his face.

She was shaking.

"Hey, hey!" Tonoyasu shouted, gaining the people's attention, "This is the man I fell for!" he sounded almost loving before he burst out laughing again.

"It must've been difficult to have such a weird man following you around!!" all this laughter made it hard to guess these people's intentions, leaving Kuro on edge.

"Hey, now! I'm the best sweet-talker in the world!" Tonoyasu argued for himself.

"Are you really?" as a woman approached Zoro, reaching for his face, Kuro jumped back in fright, not able to catch herself on his kimono, she fell from his shoulder, barely managing to land on her paws as she landed behind Zoro, "Look, that guy's making a scary face!" the woman pushed up the corners of Zoro's mouth to form a 'smile,' "Come on! Smile for us! Something good has happened to this town, after all!" Zoro watched the woman in front of him, confused, as he slowly felt Kuro push up against the back of his leg.

"Oh yeah! Did you hear, Tonoyasu?" one of the men chimed," _He_ visited us last night!" a woman continued, "The _witching-hour boy!!_ " at that, Tonoyasu seemed to smile wider than before, "Really?!"

"Wiffing-bour?" Zoro asked, not being able to talk properly since the woman was still holding his mouth in a weird grimace of a smile.

An old woman was the one to answer his question, "Nobody knows who he is or where he came from, but he always appears at Ushimitsu**! He runs around the capital, stealing money from the wicked and wealthy, and then gives all of it to those in the poor districts before he disappears!" she grinned brightly with a motherly aura surrounding her as she laughed.

"That's why we all collectively bought a feast!" A woman laughed happily.

While the group of people slowly dispersed, Zoro went to sit down on a nearby boulder, Kuro quickly following after him before jumping up to take her usual spot on his shoulder, where she sat down, looking at the people laughing in the slight distance.

She let out a 'meow,' pawing at Zoro's head when she saw a small girl running toward them, holding something that looked to be a chipped cup.

"Here, have a cup, Sir Ronin!" she exclaimed before laughing happily as she held up the cup for Zoro to take. When Zoro didn't make a move to take the cup, but rather just stared on, confused, she exclaimed, that the water is clean.

"Did you buy it with _that_ money?!" he asked before looking around at the deserted state of this town, "No... It's okay..." he held up his hand to refuse the drink she offered him, but she just kept laughing, "Don't worry! It won't give you a stomach ache!"

"You came here with Yasu, so you must be a good person," some older man insisted, "Drink it!! Everybody gets a cup!" another added.

"Clean water! Clean water!" they kept chanting as soon as Zoro accepted the cup from the girl, taking a long sip from the cup, before holding it up to his shoulder, urging Kuro to drink some as well.

The girl laughed happily as she looked up at him.

The cat hesitated for a few seconds before quickly taking a few, admittedly smaller, sips herself.

"It tastes good, right?! Doesn't it taste fresh?!" suddenly, Kuro wasn't at all bothered by their volume anymore, "Hey, you're making a stern face again!" one of them scolded happily, "Your luck will run out if you don't smile!"

"Because of the way we laugh, everyone calls this the Ebisu Face here in Wano!" Tonoyasu explained, "This is why this town is called Ebisu***!! Poverty cannot defeat us!" a light smile made its way onto Zoro's face as he looked around at all the chirp faces, "Crying wouldn't make us any richer, so it'd be just a waste if we didn't laugh!! A massive waste!"

* * *

Zoro decided that staying a night wouldn't hurt them. They could just go back to the Flower Capital tomorrow.

So when Tonoyasu offered him to spend the night at his house, Zoro accepted the offer without much thought.

Zoro spent the rest of the evening drinking the rest of his sake before eventually falling asleep on the Tatami floor. 

Kuro, on the other hand, stayed awake for a bit longer. She hadn't actually slept in weeks. Sleep itself sounded like heaven to her. It was what followed that worried her just slightly.

Kuro looked around the room one last time before lying down next to Zoro's already-snoring head.

She hadn't realized how tired she had been until her head was enveloped in the sweet darkness of slumber as she fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Zoro woke up quite early in the morning, letting out a long yawn as he let his eye adjust to the sunlight streaming in through the windows.

It didn't take him long to realize that something felt slightly off about this whole situation, and it took even less to realize that something was lying on top of him.

When he glanced down he was startled when he saw a girl sleeping soundly on his chest.

'What the-' he quickly sat up but froze as the girl suddenly turned in her sleep, opening her eyes before turning around and hugging his torso, all the while mumbling something that sounded an awful lot like his name.

"A girl...?" he thought to himself, freezing, as she suddenly sat upright, "Huh?" was the only sound coming out of her mouth, before she suddenly jumped back in shock, bowing down with her forehead to the ground in front of him.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, and it was then that Zoro noticed the cat ears on top of her head. One was black while the other was white, "I haven't slept in a while, but I tend to sleep-walk!" she sounded embarrassed, and Zoro furrowed his brows at her appearance.

She was wearing white, fingerless gloves on her hands and a black kimono that reached down to her knees.

He tried to sense for her, using his haki, but he wound up with nothing. This only heightened his raising suspicion, though, he had to make sure, "Who are you?" his voice had sounded a lot more demanding than he had intended. When the girl in front of him flinched, he felt a pang of sudden guilt make its way into his chest.

"Kuro..." was her quiet reply, and with that, Zoro knew that it must be true.

"Is that your real name?" Zoro kept pressing. It can't possibly be that Luffy chose to name her by her real name, can it?

"It's the only one I have..." was her reply as she looked anywhere but at him. 

"What do you mean, 'the only one'? What about the name your parents gave you?" the girl flinched slightly at the question, but it was such a small movement that, if Zoro hadn't been paying attention, he wouldn't have noticed in the first place.

"I don't know my parents." 

What followed must be the most awkward silence either of them ever witnessed. It was only disturbed when the girl suddenly sat up again, "How'd you meet Luffy?" the question seemed to come out of nowhere, and it took Zoro a few seconds before he even processed that he was to answer it, "We met in the East Blue," Zoro said without thinking, "I joined his crew."

"You're from the East Blue?" she asked, and Zoro jumped slightly, realizing that he wasn't supposed to mention him being an outsider, "I think I was born in the North Blue," she had a thoughtful look in her eyes, before a smile took over her features, "You don't need to look so frozen. I already knew you weren't from around here."

Zoro's eye widened slightly before he remembered that she was there when Tsuru found out that they're outsiders.

It makes sense that she'd remember that.

"So... you're pirates?" before she could ask any more questions, Zoro interrupted her with a hand to her mouth, his expression suddenly grim.

"Stay here," was all he said before he was out the door with his swords.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene at Ebisu is actually where I got the idea for this fic. I couldn't help but think it'd be funny if a buff, scary, frowning man like Zoro was walking around Wano with a tiny, adorable cat on his shoulder. 
> 
> * 'Kasu' is Japanese for 'Trash'
> 
> ** 'Ushimitsu:' Written as Ushimitsu-kozou (丑三つ小僧) in the original. Ushimitsu (3rd division of the ox) is part of the traditional Japanese time system (Wadokei) and refers to the time between 2:00 and 2:30 am (varies depending on the season). It is superstitiously known as the time when spirits/ghosts are most active. As such, "Ushimitsu" is commonly found in occult books or horror movies. The closest equivalent we have in English is the Witching Hour, said to be the time when ghosts/demonic powers are the strongest. With a similar (if not same) meaning behind it. The main difference is that the Witching hour refers to a time between 2 and 4 am, which is a bit later than Ushimitsu.
> 
> *** 'Ebisu' is the God of Fortune. He is commonly depicted as a fisherman with a wide smile.
> 
> Also... I've just noticed, but Yasu is actually taller in the Manga... In the Anime, he sometimes looks about half of Zoro's height, but due to his cute bun (and his huge head), he's actually just a bit smaller than Zoro in the Manga (reaches up to about his neck)... This change in the Anime actually makes no sense, since, in some frames, Yasu still looks as if he's about Zoro's height, so, instead, it looks as if Yasu is constantly changing his height all the time. It's weird. 
> 
> (I'm going to stick with the Manga when it comes to that)
> 
> Next Update: September 27th


	6. The Purrsuing Cat

Kuro quickly ran through the deserted area, until it suddenly got much colder, as it began to snow.

She was definitely not built for this kind of weather. At least not in this form, but she was undoubtedly faster in this form. She needed to hurry if she wanted to catch up to the greenette who left her.

Again.

He had told her to wait for him, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't find his way back, and when Tonoyasu informed her that Zoro had left town, she knew what she had to do.

If he wouldn't find her, she would just have to find him, instead.

Though that is easier said than done in a terrain like this.

The snow made everything smell more or less the same to her. And from her height, she could barely see where she was going. If she were standing on her hind legs, the snow would be reaching up to her chest.

Needless to say, she had to jump to even see _anything_. 

It felt like hours until she heard a faint yell and scream. None of them sounded like Zoro, but the scream sounded like a woman.

Kuro quickened her pace.

Maybe they'd seen the greenette. 

* * *

Zoro was huffing in exhaustion, "I found you..." he spoke in between huffed breaths of air, "Are you done running away?"

"For someone who chased right after me, it sure took you a while," was the tall man's reply. Zoro had run after him for a while now. He had stolen one of his swords, Shusui.

"Shut up!" Zoro exclaimed, agitated.

"I have already returned the world-renowned blade, _Shusui,_ to its rightful place," the thief swung his huge blade at Zoro, stopping it just next to his head. He grits his teeth before continuing, "That blade belongs to the legendary samurai of Wano, Ryuma!!" he exclaimed, "That keepsake was stolen from his grave!!" his voice was booming over the snow.

"I know that!" Zoro seemed to be just as loud as a smirk slowly made its way onto his face, realizing that a fight was inevitable. 

"..." the thief hesitated only for the fragment of a second, "If that's the case, then go back to where you came from quietly!" he demanded, "If you don't, I'll take the two swords on your waist, too," he threatened.

"Are you a weapon collector? What are you planning on doing with such a collection?" Zoro questions, the smirk widening as a plan started to take form in his head, "You're just in time. We've been looking for a lot of weapons..." he thought of the possibilities they'd have in their cause, but still persisted on his main motive.

Shusui.

"What a great twist of fate..." his smirk suddenly became sinister, lowering himself into a fighting position, "Your weapon collection..." the thief grit his teeth, not replying. Zoro jumped up to swing his two katana at him, "I'll be taking all of it!! You will die by the hand of the one you stole from!" Zoro was angry and excited at the same time, "You thief!!"

* * *

Kuro drew closer to the screaming when she heard someone laugh behind her. She barely had any time to dodge before a scythe flew past her head. 

She ducked behind a boulder, peeking out from behind it, to see a woman, cradling a small, laughing child. They were dodging the man's scythe, barely managing to come out unharmed, as he drew closer.

Kuro barely hesitated before running out and jumping up on the man's head, swishing at his eyes with her claws. It might not kill him, but if she succeeded, she'd buy the two victims a bit of time to escape.

She barely managed to draw blood from one of his eyes, at least, before he managed to get a good grab at her and throw her forward. She landed on the ground in front of the woman and the child. 

Kuro was able to stand up again, and it took only a quick glance at the two behind her, for her to jump back into motion, quickly running after them as they took off again.

* * *

"Do not lie to me!!" the thief roared, agitated as he swung his blade at Zoro, who stopped it with his katana, "How dare you say you met Ryuma?!" he took a small step back as the snow picked up just slightly.

"Well..." Zoro trailed off, "The soul itself was slightly different, but..." he admitted. The thief growled in anger as he readjusted his sword for another attack.

"What a pitiful lie!! The samurai named Ryuma died centuries ago!" his face was a snarl as he growled at the greenette in front of him, "Legends say that he was able to cut down anybody he faced in an instant. He was an undefeated swordsman!" the thief swung at Zoro again, pushing Zoro back a few feet by the force of it.

"A man like you could never know the true value of Shusui!" Zoro jumped up at the next swing, coming up above the thief, who followed him with his eyes, "... Long ago, back when the Land of Wano was known as the 'Country of Gold,'" Zoro's eye widened just slightly at that.

"Gold?!" Zoro questioned as he landed again, getting ready to block the thief's next attack.

"There were so many pirates who wanted it all for themselves! And so many nobles who wanted to bring this place under their control!!" the thief, surprisingly, got even more agitated. He struck over and over again as he retold the story, "There was an infinite line of enemies from the outside world..." 

"But Ryuma..." he continued, pushing Zoro back by a few feet with the power of his sword, "was the man who showed the world what the samurai in the land of Wano were truly capable of!" Zoro was quiet while the thief sunk deeper and deeper into his memory of the former owner of Zoro's blade, Shusui.

"The tale in which he slays a dragon that appeared from the sky... That's only one of the many legends about the great swordsman Ryuma!!" he growled, "After his death... He was bestowed with the title of 'Sword God,'" he took a deep breath before concluding, "And he was buried with the world-renowned blade Shusui!! Those two are the national treasures of the Land of Wano!" he exclaimed.

"I see," Zoro spoke up again, balancing Wado on his shoulder as he held Kitestu in front of him, "So that's how it is... But that has nothing to do with me!" he repeated his point, making his intentions of getting Shusui back clear, "I hate when I don't have three swords..."

The thief scoffed at Zoro's proclamation, "It seems I overestimated you! Shusui is a black blade! It became one after its many battles alongside Ryuma!" he continued, angrily, calling Zoro a 'spineless brat' for thinking that he could just have it because he simply wanted to.

That caught Zoro's attention, as his eye widened just slightly, "'became' one?"

'Now that he's mentioned it... I've always been curious about that...!' Zoro hesitated before taking a deep breath.

"Hey, that 'black blade' thing you've been talking about... Is it-" 

Before Zoro could finish his question, a scream rang out from behind him.

"Please! Someone help us!!!"

"Huh?" Zoro averted his eye for just a moment and was left frantic as he barely managed to block the thief's next attack, "You bastard!! Don't attack me while I'm distracted!!" he snapped at the man in front of him.

"Finding an opening is what leads to victory in a battle!" the thief countered, "That's why I always wait for that opportunity!" Zoro's scowl deepened as the shouts for help grew closer.

"Someone, please!!" a woman screamed, "Help us! Our lives are in danger!!"

"A woman, a child, and..." a quick frown went over Zoro's face as he spotted the small cat on the child's head.

Kuro.

The child laughed, "Ah!! They're samurai!! Hey, help us!!" Zoro frowned as the child kept laughing.

"Please, I beg of you, brave swordsmen!!" the woman pleaded, and Zoro looked between her serious expression and the child's laughing face.

"I can't tell if you're joking or being serious!!" he snapped before noticing the woman's bleeding arm.

"They probably aren't joking around..."

Zoro's haki alerted him to an incoming presence, and he quickly made his way to block the culprit as he was about to kill the woman and child.

And Kuro, too.

The blade of the attacker's scythe stopped mere inches away from the woman's head as she fell to her knees, cradling the child in her arms. Kuro fell off the child's head and landed in front of the two.

"Huh?!" the bandaged attacker scowled at Zoro, who strained to keep the innocents behind him from harm's way.

"Wait, just a moment!" he growled as the woman behind him huffed in slight exhaustion. Kuro moved closer to the two innocents again, the hair on her back standing as she hissed at the attacker.

"You're wide open again!!" shouted the thief as he went to attack the already flailing Zoro, who was struggling to keep the man with the scythe at bay.

Zoro barely managed to escape the thief's attack, turning his head in anger, "Hey! Can't you read the mood, bastard?!" Zoro's face was twisted in rage and strained concentration.

"Have you forgotten about our battle...?" the thief asked, sounding agitated as well. Kuro tried urging the woman to get out of the way, but the woman stayed frozen to the floor as she looked between the three men.

"I'll get to that in a second!" Zoro sounded frantic as he jumped back from the attacker who had been after the woman and the child, "Another weird guy is here..." he mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.

The attacker laughed as he recognized Zoro as 'The Slasher,' "Why are you trying to safe those women?" he asked, "And woman! Why are you trying to save that child?!" he turned his attention on the beautiful woman now. He let his eyes cross the child in her arms, before landing on Kuro, "And what's up with that cat?!" he growled in frustration as a little blood trickled down his face.

Right, where Kuro had attempted to blind him.

"My target is that jester in your arms..." he tried to reason with the woman who finally got up, taking several steps back as Kuro followed her movements closely, "I'm only here for that child!"

"Jester?" the child repeated, her laughter filling the air, while the woman stayed quiet.

"You are Kamazou, the manslayer! You're known in the capital for murdering indiscriminately, but..." the woman spoke up, pulling the girl closer in her arms, "You're actually Orochi's trained assassin who's just using that as a ruse, right?!" she guessed, "Nobody else would want to kill O-Toko," she concluded, her gaze unwavering.

"How dare you address the Shogun so impolitely!!" the manslayer growled, proving the woman's suspicion right as Kuro glanced between the two of them, "I should be asking who _you_ are!" 

The woman didn't hesitate, asking Zoro to help her and the child, "I will repay you in any way I can!!" 

"Well..." Zoro trailed off, glancing at Kuro for a fraction of a second before turning to glare at the manslayer again, "I don't really want to see a woman and a child get killed right in front of me..." Kuro let out what sounded like an agitated 'meow' at what he'd said. Almost as if she was angry for leaving her out of his reasoning, "I'll help you if you give me some booze and food afterward," Kuro slumped forward as the words left his mouth.

She looked almost disappointed in his reasonings, but she was quick to recover when the woman instantly agreed to his form of payment. Kuro's stomach growled as Zoro confirmed the deal.

Maybe the food wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"Go ahead and try!" the manslayer started mocking Zoro, "I don't care who interferes, because I was ordered to kill anyone who stands in my way!" his expression seemed almost ecstatic at the prospect of more victims.

"Killing someone who serves under that guy..." Zoro mumbled to himself, though loud enough for Kuro and the attacker to hear him, "is gonna cause some problems later, but..." he trailed off, quickly getting ready to block the attack that was already coming in. The manslayer had started turning like a tornado, quickly closing in on Zoro.

"You don't need to worry about that!" he laughed, "Because you will be the one who dies!" he almost screeches in delight.

He sent one attack after the other, barely missing Zoro, who sent a counter-attack himself, though, missing the manslayer as he dodged.

'This guy is strong!' Zoro grit his teeth as he jumped back from another attack, losing his overcoat in the process.

"Are you finally going to fight seriously?" the manslayer taunted, as Zoro smirked at him.

Kuro had the sudden urge to grab the coat but stayed rooted in front of the woman as they watched the fight in shock and nervousness. 

For a while, it looked as though Zoro might be able to beat the manslayer. That sentiment, however, was shortlived as the thief attacked Zoro out of seemingly nowhere, catching him off-guard. As Zoro was distracted in dodging the thief's attack, the manslayer took this opportunity to attack Zoro himself.

Kuro was filled with utter shock as she watched Zoro's shoulder get pierced by the scythe. The woman behind her gasped in shock, while the girl in her arms kept giggling, though her giggles had turned slightly more nervous than they were before.

Zoro kept his head low as the manslayer attempted to pull out his weapon, "It's stuck!" the man exclaimed in slight surprise while Zoro's face twisted into a scary smirk, the aura coming off him, making Kuro shiver as she stepped closer to the woman behind her. Zoro pulled out the weapon, claiming it for himself, "I'll just make do with this, then," he muttered as the manslayer backed off with one of the scythes that he had still left. Zoro bit down on the handle, glaring at the manslayer as he started muttering the name of an attack.

"Three swords?!" the woman behind Kuro exclaimed in surprise.

Zoro zoomed forward, slashing the manslayer, who wound up falling to the ground, most likely passing out. The woman and child staring in shock as Kuro kept backing away, closer to the woman behind her. Even the thief seemed shocked for a for now.

Zoro was huffing as he stood up straight again, turning to glare at the thief, "Damn... I got injured before the final battle!" he growled in frustration as the thief grinned. Zoro went to attack the thief, who had turned around, but a sudden wave of dizziness had him lose his balance, the ground quickly closing in on him, before his eye closed, still focused on the retreating form of the thief.

The last thing he heard was the exclamation of the woman he had helped, "Sir Samurai!!"

* * *

Kuro quickly rushed over to Zoro as soon as she saw him lose his balance, but she barely made her way when he had already hit the ground. She didn't know what she would have done, anyway. Like this, all that would have happened would be her, crushed under a man that was currently probably more than 20 times her weight. 

Instead, she watched as the woman picked Zoro off the ground. Kuro's eyes widened slightly as she quickly followed the stronger-than-anticipated woman and the small child.

It took a while, but they arrived in a small town, where the woman placed Zoro down on a futon, quickly tending to his wounds before starting on her promise of food and booze. 

As Kuro watched the woman make something to eat, Kuro sat on Zoro's chest, her eyes wandering from the woman to the child and back again.

The girl's attention was suddenly on Kuro, as she moved closer toward the cat, "Hey..." her grin widened, "I know you from the Flower Capital!" she laughed as she started patting Kuro's head, giggling all the while.

"What are you doing all the way out here, kitty?" the child asked.

'Meow,' was Kuro's reply, which could be interpreted in several ways, but the child nodded nonetheless, "I see... You followed him, huh?" she laughed giddily, "I'm talking to a cat!" she screeched while laughing.

Kuro mustered the girl with her eyes, seemingly about to say something else when she suddenly lost her footing on Zoro's chest, "My swords!!" the swordsman exclaimed, sitting up. Kuro fell from his chest on to the futon at his side, while the child fell over, screaming, "That scared me!" the child laughed even harder than before.

"Please... lie back down," came the woman's kind voice, "You'll open your wounds again..." 

Kuro hopped up in Zoro's lap as he sat up fully, refusing to lie back down despite the woman's plea. Zoro stroked her fur absentmindedly.

"Thank you very much for saving us earlier," the woman smiled at Zoro while the child jumped around excitedly thanking him as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: October 18th 2020


	7. A Domestic Cat

"To think that you let yourself get injured so badly just for our sake... Honestly..." the woman trailed off, "How will we ever repay you?" 

"My injury was due to my naivety! It's got nothing to do with you," Zoro argued back, huffing in annoyance at himself and his lost sword. Kuro glanced up at him, seeing his gaze flicker to the swords next to him. She tightened her grip on his robes that had been pulled down by the woman when she patched him up, "Anyway," he grabbed his swords, moving to stand up, "Do you know where that big guy went? He still has Shusui!" as Zoro was about to leap after the thief, the woman grabbed his injured arm, pulling Zoro back down.

"You must not move!! Please stay still!" she exclaimed as Zoro howled with pain, "You can't go outside with a wound like that!"

"Why don't you pull my other arm, you idiot?!" Zoro screamed in pain. The woman was quick to apologize for hurting Zoro unnecessarily.

Zoro scowled, turning away from the woman again, "Goodbye," he muttered, though as he went to walk away, he was stopped by the same pain shooting up his arm, as the woman grabbed his arm once again, pulling him back.

"Do not go! Your wound has not yet healed!" she exclaimed.

"I said the wound is right there! Why can't you see?!" Zoro asked in exasperation, the woman quickly apologizing for pulling on his injured arm again. In all of Zoro's flailing, Kuro, who had held on to Zoro's Kimono, lost her grip.

"Ah!" the laughing child exclaimed as she caught Kuro mid-air, "You'll be healed in no time!" the child was grinning and laughing as she threw Kuro up in the air before catching her again, whereas Kuro was flailing around, trying to get back to Zoro, who was now lying down again. "Back in the capital, I sto- bought some toad oil!" Kuro finally managed to break free of the child's grasp. She jumped behind Zoro, shivering as she glanced at the child from beside his head.

"So you stole it, then," Zoro concluded as he glanced at the cat beside him in deep thought.

"If you rub it on your wound, it'll heal instantly!" the child continued, ignoring Zoro's words, "Even deep sword wounds will disappear!"

To Kuro, this seemed highly unlikely. Thinking back to the capital, it's entirely possible the child was scammed into 'buying' some so-called medicine that does not affect at all.

Kuro glanced from the laughing child toward the kind woman who was seeing to Zoro's wounds after she pulled him down like that.

Kuro knew she must mean well, and that's why she hadn't thought about it before. But this woman seemed oddly familiar. Kuro felt as though she had seen the woman before, but couldn't quite place where exactly she had seen it.

The child walked around Zoro, kneeling at his side, before applying some of the toad oil, "Toad oil is amazing!" 

"Toad oil, huh?" Zoro mused, grinning, "Well, I hope it'll work!"

It was quiet for a few seconds, the only sound being the crackling of the fire as the woman had started cooking some food for Zoro.

"Say, Samurai-san!" the child started, looking down at the wound she applied the oil onto. Zoro hummed in response, waiting for the child to continue, "Stay with us!" she offered, her hands trembling slightly as a barely visible frown went over her otherwise grinning features. But Kuro couldn't be sure whether it was even there in the first place, as, barely seconds later, the child started laughing again.

"Well, at least until the wound heals, you had better stay here..." the woman interjected, smiling to hide the frown that Kuro saw on her face, too, just barely seconds ago.

Zoro glanced between the child and the woman, his frown seemingly deepening.

He turned his head as the silence revealed the crackling of the fire once more, "You got something to eat?" he asked, not answering either of their questions. If those even were questions, to begin with.

"Yes!" the woman exclaimed, happily, "Do you want some now?" as Zoro agreed, the child started laughing excitedly again. She cheered, while Zoro sat up.

* * *

"Would you like to have some more?" the woman asked as Zoro finished his bowl.

"Gyukimaru?" Zoro asked, swallowing the last chunk. He still handed the bowl off to the woman.

"Oh, yes," the woman started explaining while filling up Zoro's bowl, "he is famous in the capital. The citizen call him 'Gyukimaru of Oihagi bridge.' Nobody knows where he lives, but he is a warrior monk that ambushes those with weapons when they cross the bridge." 

"I see..." Zoro mused, "Then there's no need to hurry after him..." he could figure out how to get back his katana later, "By the way," he changed the topic, "Who the hell are you two?" he realized that that might sound rude so e added, "You were targeted by the grim reaper guy, so..." he trailed off.

As he scanned the room, he realized that Kuro was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't in his usual spot on his lap, and even though she felt like it shouldn't, not knowing where she was, was making him feel uncomfortable. There seems a lot the two of them needed to discuss.

That is if this morning was not some kind of weird hallucination. It's beyond him, why he would make something like this up, but it seemed just as unlikely that the cat was a human this whole time and he just didn't notice. 

'What kind of Devil Fruit did she eat?' 

Chopper ate a Devil Fruit, but he never looks like an actual human. The same thing goes with all the other hybrid forms he had seen during his time on the grand line.

None of them looked completely human or completely like their assigned animal.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he barely caught the woman's reply.

"Right, to be honest..." she started, sounding a shy, "We angered the shogun, and can no longer enter the capital..." she trailed off in her explanation as Zoro took a great swig of the sake she offered him.

"The shogun, huh...?" Zoro thought about that for a few seconds, "What was his name again? Oro..." he wracked his brain to remember the name, "Oroshi?" he guessed.

"It's Oro **_ chi _ ** ," she corrected him, seemingly on instinct.

"My name's Toko!" the child, who was now facing Zoro as she sat in front of him, interrupted, "If you put an O in front of my name, it's 'O-Toko'," she chimed happily, "I'm not a boy, though!" she laughed, "That's funny, right?"

"Not really," Zoro answered, glancing at the child, before taking another swig of his Sake.

The child had a shocked expression on her face, almost as if she had never thought about the possibility that anyone would not think of this as funny.

"You're an outsider, aren't you?" the woman asked, seemingly out of nowhere, as Zoro continued to eat, "You act like the Samurai of this country, though," she continued, "But you seem like a bad per-" she stopped herself, quickly correcting her mistake, "Erm...  **_ Don't _ ** seem to be a bad person." 

"Don't stutter!" Zoro scolded her, sounding frustrated. The woman was quick to apologize, and the child danced back over to Zoro, "Samurai-san, you look scary!" she chimed, laughing, "But you're a nice person, because you saved us!" she concluded happily, pulling out a small, black cat from her sleeve, "And you have a small cat! So you can't be a bad person!" Zoro glanced at the small cat in the little girl's arms.

She seemed to look at peace now, as she cuddled closer to the child. Or maybe she just gave up fighting the child while Zoro was preoccupied with eating.

A thoughtful look went over the woman's face as she watched Zoro, "I hope you can keep this a secret, but..." she hesitated for a few seconds before continuing, catching Zoro's attention in the meantime, "I... I'm searching for my older brother! I haven't seen him for twenty years!" something about this story seemed to intrigue Zoro, so he kept listening, "He might actually be in Wano right now!"

Zoro glanced up from his bowl, "His name is Kozuki Momonosuke. And I'm his younger sister, Hiyori."

Zoro was shocked at the revelation. He wasn't sure what exactly he was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this, "You're Mononosuke's sister?!" He exclaims in shock.

"I was right!!" the woman, Hiyori, exclaims in joy, "I'm glad I mustered up the courage to say something! What a  _ gamble _ that was!" within a heartbeat, she was suddenly right in front of Zoro, startling him as he was still trying to process this new set of information, "So you know my older brother!"

"Hold on a second! Let me process all this first!" 

"So he's still alive!" Hiyori ignores Zoro's intervention, "... Since a strong and kind Samurai from the outside world appeared at the same time that rumors of the Kozuki family's return began to circulate throughout the country, it must mean that you'Re helping my brother!" she beams, before her face suddenly darkens with a new realization, "Ah! But you could also be an enemy that is trying to capture my brother!" 

"I'm an ally. An A.L.L.Y," Zoro insisted, waving his hand dismissively, as he still tried his hardest to wrap his head around the fact that he met Mononosuke's sister.

"That's a relief!" Hiyori exclaims joyfully, "In that case, where is Kin'emon? And what of Kanjuro? And what of Raizo and Kikunojo?!" she scrambled to ask, "Is everyone gathered together?"

"Kikunojo?" Zoro repeated, "You mean Kiku?" he thought back to the tall Samurai woman they met a few days ago, "Yeah... But wait..." he pondered, "Something has me wondering," he considered the woman in front of him, "Are you really Momonosuke's younger sister?" 

Hiyori sat back, her face taking on a more serious expression, "Let me explain," she began before explaining how her mother had sent her brother and a few other people into the future when she was still a child.

"I think I get it now..." Zoro crossed his arms, "Momo was sent 20 years into the future, and stayed 8 years old," Zoro repeated Hiyori's words, "and you're supposed to be his younger sister, but you aged 20 years, and that's why you're older than him now..."

"Yes," Hiyori confirmed.

"Well, whatever..." Zoro motioned to the child jumping around the room, Kuro still in her arms, "Is it really okay for the kid to know about this?"

"Don't worry! I already knew!" the child exclaimed loudly, laughing as she jumped into Hiyori's arms, "It's our little secret!" she chimed happily. And while the child was distracted, Kuro used the chance to jump away and take on her usual spot on Zoro's lap.

Zoro glanced down at the cat, who just gave him a simple 'meow,' in greeting. He scowled slightly, trying not to think about the possibility of the cat being an actual human. 

'It was just a weird dream,' he told himself as he turned his attention back to the woman and child in front of him.

"O-Toko is one of the few friends I have that know the truth," Hiyori explained as she hugged the girl tightly, "her attitude has helped me to push forward."

O-Toko laughed gleefully, as she, too, hugged her tighter.

"I will never forget what happened 20 years ago..." she started, "Even though I was just a child back then... And even younger than O-Toko is now!" she paused, "Inside that raging fire... I saw my brother and everyone else vanish... On that same day, I lost my father, Oden... And my mother, too..." a melancholic expression made its way over her features, "I didn't know what was going on, and I was so confused..."

Zoro picked up his bottle of sake, but couldn't bring himself to drink. He just sighed, knowing what loss feels like, but unable to imagine what  _ that _ must've felt like.

"I lost everything on that day..." she continues as Zoro didn't say anything, "My brother promised, that he would return in 20 years, but..." she trailed off, "I had no faith in his uncertain promise. That is why at that time, I lost my will to live..."

"Why didn't you just go with them?" he finally asked, stroking Kuro's fur absent-mindedly.

"Because... In case the plan failed, they wanted to ensure that there was a way for the Kozuki bloodline to survive..." she replied.

"That's just too cruel..." Zoro muttered.

"But my father's retainer,  _ Kawamatsu the Kappa _ took care of me with such intense patience..." she continued, her face brightening just slightly.

"A Kappa?" Zoro asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I am sure that it is hard for you to believe that such a demon exists... But he takes pride in being one," she confirmed, "On the day the castle burned down, enemies were surrounding us from all sides, but he was able to dig a hole into the water channel, and we escaped without anybody noticing!" she smiled at the fond memories of her friend, "He always tried to cheer me up even though I had remained mute from the day my parents died..." she trailed off, continuing to revel in her memories.

"So... Where is he now?" Zoro asked after a few minutes of her talking.

"We were separated when I was 13," her voice was layered in pain, but she quickly forced herself to recover, "But Kawamatsu is a very strong Samurai! He must be waiting somewhere for the final battle!" she cheered herself up, "I really want to see him again!"

"I want to see a Kappa, too!" O-Toko exclaimed, excitedly chanting the word 'Kappa.'

"Zorojuro-san," Hiyori spoke again, after smiling at her young friend, "Who else is there preparing for the battle?" she asked as soon as Zoro had turned his attention toward her again.

"Well..." Zoro started, but the first name barely left his lips when Hiyori exclaimed in excitement.

"The doggy and the kitty are here, too?!" she exclaimed delightedly, before continuing in a lower volume, "I heard they died..."

"Well, I don't know if Nekomamushi has arrived yet..." Zoro stopped talking when he glanced at Hiyori, "What's with that face?" he asked.

Hiyori's face was twisted weirdly as her whole body trembled, "I am so happy..." her voice was strained, "Too happy! But I will not cry!" she told herself, on the verge of crying, "Because I am the daughter of a Samurai!" she exclaimed. O-Toko started laughing hysterically at the face Hiyori was making, "It's possible that all members of the Akazaya Nine could come together!" Hiyori cheered after she got her facial expression in order.

"There are six people, along with Momonusuke, but I haven't met the other three yet," Zoro mused in thought.

"One of them is Kawamatsu, the man I was just talking about," Hiyori explained in excitement, "the other two are Denjiro and Ashura Douji!" she continued, smiling happily at the thought of meeting everyone so dear to her again, "I have no idea where those three are or whether they are safe, but right now, the capital is in chaos because of this picture," she held up a piece of paper containing the crossed swans Usopp was spreading across the capital, "They will definitely appear when they see it!" she concluded, gushing at the thought.

"That picture helped us spread the information faster, but the most important part..." Zoro huffed in frustration, "the meetup location was leaked... And now our allies are being captured one-by-one..." he sighed, glancing down at Kuro, who paused in her effort to play with Zoro's hand, sensing that this was important, "No matter how you look at it, it's not a good situation. I wonder what's gonna happen..." his frown deepened slightly, but he quickly went to lie down, "We may have more boatmen now, but our boat is definitely not moving as we want it to..." he sighed, "Maybe I should just stop thinking about it," he positioned his arms behind his head, feeling Kuro shift to lie down on his chest.

"Yes, yes. You need to rest, Zorojuro-san," Hiyori agreed, "That way, your wounds will heal! Please go to sleep!" she encouraged him as he closed his eyes.

But instead of letting him sleep in quiet, she started gushing happily with O-Toko, causing Zoro immense frustration, as Kuro shifted constantly, seemingly unable to fall asleep to the noise as well.

However, before long, he managed to fall asleep to the sound of Hiyori's excited chatter about her brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: November 15th


	8. A Dreadful Cat

Kuro startled awake as a scream rang through the hut. Someone was loudly apologizing for intruding, and Kuro, after the initial shock, looked up to see the skeleton man from a few days ago.

"Brook... What's going on? Why are you here?" Zoro mumbled, still sounding tired.

'But then again, when is he ever not tired?' Kuro thought to herself as she accepted her fate, sitting up next to Zoro's head. However, she was startled, yet again, as Zoro suddenly sat up, making her lose her tired balance and fall over.

"Huh?!" he glared down at the O-Toko and Hiyori, who were sleeping sounding on top of him.

The skeleton seemed to notice the situation in front of him, as well. He exclaimed in shock at seeing his friend in a scene such as this.

Kuro truly didn't know what was wrong with the scene.

During her time living on the streets, before she met Zoro, she saw quite a lot of people sleeping closer together like this.

Granted, she doesn't remember seeing anything like that from before she came to Wano, but she just assumed that people in Wano liked to cuddle in their sleep.

And Zoro didn't seem to mind until a few moments ago.

He also didn't seem to mind her cuddling up to him before.

Kuro looked between the two men, realizing that she'd lost track of their conversation, as Hiyori and O-Toko were awake now, as well.

They seemed to be talking about the shrine we had to spend the night in. Apparently, Hiyori didn't realize that this was a shrine.

Hence also why the skeleton, Brook, didn't know people would be inside this building.

He was probably searching for shelter from the snow outside.

Do skeletons get cold?

Kuro mewed at the skeleton, pawing at his leg as she walked up to him.

He was reminiscing about a kid named Momonosuke and Hiyori, his sister, when he reached down to absent-mindedly poke at Kuro's nose, gaining a sneeze in return.

Kuro quickly trudged back toward Zoro, attempting to jump in his lap, before being caught mid-air by the child, who hugged Kuro tightly, while continuing her fit of laughter at everything. Including the fact that Brook still had hair, despite being a skeleton.

"I envy you Zoro-san!" Brook exclaimed, just as Kuro managed to get out of the child's grip, jumping back on Zoro's lap while playing with the child from a slight distance.

"I was just sleeping..." Zoro grumbled in annoyance, immediately knowing what the skeleton was referring to.

"I am sorry! It was just so cold!" Hiyori seemed to defend herself, which made Kuro catch up to the conversation.

They were still talking about the cuddling.

"But the people in the capital would have died to lay with me!" Hiyori exclaimed, sounding either smug or giddy. Kuro couldn't really tell, "Did you enjoy it?" she asked, smiling happily.

"You're pretty chirpy this morning..." Zoro grumbled instead of answering her question, eliciting a funny-sounding laugh from the skeleton.

Kuro looked up at the greenette above her but couldn't really see much beyond the usual scowl, that is a little deepened by annoyance at the situation.

When Brook started talking about his trip to the bathhouse, Kuro trailed off mentally.

Zoro now knew that she was a human. He also seemed to understand a vast majority of what she's saying, even when she's in her cat form.

But then again, one of his friends is a talking reindeer, so Kuro shouldn't be too surprised about Zoro understanding her, she figured.

But even though he seemed bothered by Hiyori sleeping next to him, he didn't seem to ming her doing the same.

Or maybe it was just Brook who was getting on Zoro's nerves.

"Moreover, there is a huge commotion in the capital today! That giant crowd das gathered for the funeral of the courtesan Komurasaki," that caught Kuro's attention.

That's where she knew her from! She was the beautiful woman everyone was dreaming about in the capital!

"And not only that!" Brook continued, "The great thief who stole money fron the rich and gave it to the poor..." Kuro glanced between him and Zoro as she thought about the familiarity of this description, "A man called the witching-hour boy has been caught. So the commotion has grown even more!"

"The witching-hor boy?" Hiyori exclaimed in shock, "No way!"

"It seems that nobody knew his true identity..." Brook trails off slightly, "supposedly, he lives in Ebisu Town and is quite beloved there!" Brook hums in thought, "Something-Yasu..." he trails off, "Well apparently, he's actually-"

He was cut off by the shock exclamations of Kuro and Zoro, "What?! You mean Tonoyasu?!" Zoro's one good eye was already widened in shock, but it widened even more, as Brook confirmed his suspicion.

"What?" O-Toko suddenly spoke up, "That's my daddy!" she seemed shocked, though the grin remained on her face.

"Oh no!" Brook exclaims, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... he is to be executed today!" this was followed by an uproar from O-Toko before she hastily ran out the door, screaming for her 'daddy' as she ran toward the capital.

Hiyori's pleading for O-Toko to stop fell on deaf ears as the child just continued sprinting.

"I am going after her," Hiyori gets up in an instant, "I am truly thankful to you for saving us yesterday!" as soon as those words left her, she was already out the door.

"WAit, you idiot!" Zoro grunted as he got up as well, quickly placing Kuro on his good shoulder, before pulling up his coat, "You weren't able to protect her before, right?!" he picked up his two remaining Katana, before sprinting out as well.

As the four of them ran, though Kuro was mostly just clinging to Zoro, while trying to shield herself from the cold, the skeleton ran outside as well. 

"I just came from the capital!" he exclaimed in what might be exasperation as he ran after then, "Wait for me!"

* * *

We quickly approached the capital, and soon, Yasu was in sight as he was bound to a huge wooden cross.

"Yasu?!" Zoro's voice was slightly hoarse as he was shocked to see the man up there, about to be executed, while still trying to help Zoro and his friends.

Toko was running in front of them, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Cover the children's eyes! The last Daimyo that served the Kozuki. The frivolous flatterer from Ebisu Town will now make his way to the other world!" Tonoyasu had tears streaming down his grinning face, which made something in Kuro's stomach churn, highly uncomfortable, "Let us all sing together!" Yasu exclaimed before he started singing a tune unfamiliar to Kuro.

Before we could even reach the podium, Tonoyasu was already dead.

What followed made the hair on Kuro's back stand on end, as she crawled herself colder to Zoro.

The people from Ebisu Town all came flooding toward the podium just as we arrived as well. Yasu'S body was lying on the ground in front of the wooden cross, where everyone could see his blood pooling underneath him.

O-Toko and the other people from Ebisu Town started crying in agony.

Though their smiles remained on their faces.

It was almost as if they were physically unable to stop smiling, even if the pain they felt was otherwise clear just from glancing at their eyes.

Though, because of their laughter, it made the scene even eerier, as Zoro glared around at everyone, shouting at them to stop laughing at someone's death. Kuro was trembling at this point, and, as she glanced toward Hiyori, she could see tears streaming down her face as well.

"You-!" Zoro was about to walk toward O-Toko, who had just started laughing as well, but he was stopped by Hiyori, who was trembling from her own tears, "Stop it! Everyone is crying!" she screamed, which caught Zoro off-guard.

It definitely doesn't look much like crying.

The tears streaming down their faces were the only sign of their sadness they ever got.

"The people of Ebisu Town..." Hiyori started explaining, "No matter how hard it is for them... They are unable to show such emotions!" Zoro kept glancing at the woman in front of him, as a nagging feeling made its way into the pit of Kuro's stomach.

She had heard of this.

"They have been robbed of their ability to do anything but  _ smile _ ... All they can do is laugh!" the way she empathized 'Smile' only furthered Kuro's suspicion.

Zoro, too, felt his stomach drop at what she said.

'Smile.'

Even he and the others encountered that name a few times during their stay in the New World.

"It is all because... of what Kaidou and Orochi brought to this country..." Hiyori was speaking in between sobs, as she clung to Zoro, tears streaming seemingly endlessly down her face, "The fruit..." she looked up at Zoro, "known as Smile!"

Kuro's ears started ringing as she looked around at all the crying, but also laughing faces. The people of Ebisu were desperately trying to show their grief, but no one understood them.

As the guards tried to throw them out of the capital, they refused to leave the scene of Yasu's death.

Kuro tried her best to stay present, but the ringing in her ears just got louder and louder, as she glanced between everyone in front of the podium.

O-Toko, the child who had just lost her father without ever being able to say so much as goodbye. 

The people of Ebisu, who had tears streaming down their laughing features.

Hiyori, who was still clinging onto Zoro, as tears and sobs made her tremble with grief for the lost life, as well as for the people of Ebisu, who lost their friend, and for O-Toko, who lost her father.

Before Kuro knew what was happening, she slipped off Zoro's shoulder and blacked out.

* * *

Zoro stood still, not saying anything as Hiyori continued. He vaguely noticed the cat slip off his shoulder, but he couldn't find it himself to move right now.

She was probably just going to walk away from the noise, anyway.

"This is shogun Orochi's most heinous crime... He has brought misery to all of these people...!" Hiyori sobbed, as she gripped his overcoat tighter, "And will not even allow them to grieve!! What is this place..." she looked up at him, "if not 'hell' itself? Tell me, Sir Zorojuro..."

"I thought  _ smiles _ were just artificial devil fruits...?" he muttered, more to himself than to Hiyori. And before either of them even had the chance to consider saying anything else, a gleeful laugh pierced through the air.

"What a fitting end for you Yasuie!" the shogun's voice rang out, "How audacious of you to have lived all this time in  _ my _ Land of Wano! That was very rude of you, you hedgeho-... No..." he thought of a better insult, "You sewer-rat!" he exclaimed, laughing.

Zoro turned his eye to glare at the man in question, furious at what revealed itself.

"Yes, Everyone! Send him off to the afterlife with your laughter!" he screamed, gleefully, starting to dance in victory, "This is the LAnd of Wano! The bright and cheerful Wano!" he laughed, "One might even mistake it as  _ heaven _ here!" he bellowed, contradicting the words uttered by Hiyori barely even a few seconds ago.

As Hiyori continued to explain, Brook walked over to them. Hiyori explained, that the people of Ebisu Town are only the way they are because Orochi got annoyed by their grief over the people who died of starvation. So to counter that, he placed the half-eaten fruits with the leftovers meant for the left-over town now known as Ebisu Town. The fruits, unfortunately still held the side-effects of losing all expression except smiling.

"... A cheerful town where frowns do not exist..." both Zoro and Brook's scowls deepened with each word Hiyori uttered, "That is how Ebisu-Town came to be... From a glance, everyone looks happy... But in reality, it is a tragic town where one cannot show sadness, even if their family dies!" she keeps crying, "So please... Do no blame those laughing people!" she begged, hiccups shaking her body.

Zoro could feel his blood begin to boil more and more while Hiyori revealed all of this to him, and he couldn't help but think back to how Yasu told him about the reason why he keeps smiling. Even though their condition was really not their fault, they still tried to make the best of it. 

And Yasu was probably a huge part of their high spirits.

"Hey, stop it, young Lady!" 

"Get back behind the fence!!"

They screamed at O-Toko, who was now kneeling beside her dead father.

As soon as those screams reached Hiyori's ears, she turned around in shock, trying to get O-Toko to come back behind the fence.

The others around were also panicking, shouting at her to come back.

"Please, Toko!! Come back here!" Hiyori screamed as loud as she could over the noise, "You will be seen by Orochi!!"

O-Toko didn't seem to hear Hiyori's pleas as she kept shaking her father's dead body, asking him to wake up so she can heal him with the Toad Oil.

As soon as the shogun went to shoot O-Toko, Zoro jumped in front of the child, shielding her from the bullet by deflecting it with one of his Katana.

The people around the podium exclaimed in shock as they recognized Zoro, once again, as the slasher. 

However, they not only recognized him but also someone else, who immediately managed to piss him off.

The stupid cook.

Zoro glared at him, after picking up the still-crying O-Toko, who now clung to his kimono, "Sorry, but I don't have time to stand around with you, Brow-Goro," he snarled, glaring at the blonde beside him.

Sanji didn't miss a beat to growl back, "Same here, Moss-Juro!"

As the shogun had his men prepare to fight, Zoro handed the child over to Sanji, "You watch her," he only said before getting ready to fight again.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" Sanji spoke up, glaring at Zoro while holding up the child, "Why do you think Tonoyasu sacrificed himself?!" 

But Zoro could only think about what Yasu had told him about Ebisu Town and the way they smile.

His blood was boiling as he grit his teeth in anger, sending an attack straight at the shogun.

Zoro could see the shock on the shogun's face before one of his underlings managed to block the attack.

"That's boss Kyoshiro!" someone shouted, as Zoro grit his teeth in frustration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update: December 20th 2020
> 
> Because universtíty started again a few weeks ago, I haven't been able to write a lot (not only for this story but my others as well). I managed to underestimate (again) the amount of work I'd have to put into writing Essays and reading texts before lessons. I'll try to keep the more or less regular schedule, but since a few holidays are coming up, where I won't have time to write, there will be longer periods between the Chapters. I just hope that this is evened out by the length of the chapter which I try to keep at (at least) 2k words.
> 
> Also, the Anime, I've noticed, has caught up to where this is (right now) as well.
> 
> I'll keep trying to implement both the Anime and the Manga, but I find it quite hard to keep watching the Anime, after reading ahead on what happens in the Manga (most of that struggle stems from the difference in pacing in the Anime), but having to rewatch all the parts with Zoro in them, at least has the plus of the voice actor... So there's that to look forward to, at least.


	9. Cat's Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the wrong date at the end of the last Chapter, sorry!

Screams rang out from innocent bystanders as the man who had blocked Zoro's attack approached him and Sanji, the shogun at his back, "My lord... You are being too careless. How could you leave the castle with so few guards with you?"

The shogun still had an immensely shocked expression on his face as Zoto glared at him and his protector.

"What do you think you're doing!!? Think clearly!!" Sanji screamed at an unmoving Zoro before a loud roar rang out from behind Sanji. When he turned around, he was just able to jump out of the way of the huge mouth that closed just where he had stood mere seconds ago.

Zoro barely took notice of any of this, though.

The stupid cook could take care of himself, and Zoro had better things to do right now.

"They're all yours," he said to Franky, who sprang in the way of him and incoming shots. Zoro got ready to fight, sprinting forward to get another try at the shogun, "Get out of my way!!" he screamed as the man blocked Zoro's attack once again.

"I cannot! Because I am the shogun's guard dog." 

His reply made Zoro grit his teeth even harder, the anger and frustration burning just under his skin as he glared up at the man.

"Get them! Get them! All of Ysuie's allies are my enemies!!" the shogun screeched in angered excitement as he was carried away, "Round them up and behead them all!"

"Wait, Orochi!!" Zoro screamed, trying to get past the man blocking his path.

"Give it up, Ronin!" the man shouted, his never-ending grin widening just a fraction.

Zoro was already huffing again, his last injury, and the strain of trying to get past that man.

'Who is this guy?' Zoro thought to himself, straining further to get rid of him.

Several other people arrived at the scene, blocking Zoro's path even further.

"Ninja arts - Hell's Lute!" a woman shouted, shooting toward Zoro with what looked to be more than a gun, though it wasn't.

It was just a normal gun, styled weirdly.

Zoro saw Usopp run away with O-Toko as Sanji needed to focus on fighting the dinosaur-man.

Zoro watched after Usopp for a few seconds before his eyes drifted to Hiyori, who was running after Usopp and O-Toko. 

As Zoro saw her get attacked, he quickly went to help her escape, but something caught his eye on the way there.

Or rather some _ one _ .

'That girl...' Zoro's eye widened slightly, and, without thinking too much about it, he ran over to her and picked her up under his arm before continuing his quest for Hiyori.

Grabbing the girl tighter under his arm, Zoro slashed the man about to attack Hiyori, ignoring her pursuers comments, as he picked her up with his other arm.

"What were you thinking?!" he scolded her, running away to quickly follow Usopp and O-Toko, "You can't let them follow you!"

"Sir Zorojuro! My apologies!" she replied, her face caught in a frown, "I did hide my face, but...!" she trailed off, possibly not knowing how to explain her predicament properly.

On their way out of town, they lost sight of Usopp and O-Toko. Zoro wasn't sure whether it was because Usopp got lost or because they were stopped several times, barely escaping their pursuer's weapons.

They quickly reached a shrine located in a forest just outside of the Flower Capital where Hiyori went to hide inside with the girl Zoro picked up along the way.

As soon as the two of them were safely inside, Zoro went to eliminate their pursuers, who insulted him as they dropped one after the other.

"Was that all of 'em?" Zoro huffed out, "Seriously, how many Ninja... can there possibly be?"

Behind him, the sliding door slid open. Zoro followed Hiyori inside to check on the girl that had been passed out this whole time.

"My apologies," Hiyori spoke as Zoro sat down next to the girl, "I was just in your way, right?"

"Yeah, well..." Zoro trailed off as he glanced from Hiyori back to the girl, "In any case, don't worry about it," he sighed, "I'd be too ashamed to see Momonosuke if I let you die."

* * *

Darkness.

That was all Kuro knew at this moment.

She couldn't see or hear anything as the darkness kept creeping closer.

She tried to open her eyes but was unable to so much as move her eyelids.

And even if she  _ did  _ open her eyes, she didn't think there would be anything to see other than the darkness she currently floated in.

If she had been able to move, she surely would have flinched at the high-pitched, bone-chilling laugh that rang out from everywhere around her.

She, of course, knew that laugh.

She remembered having nightmares about the owner of that laugh ever since she fell.

Kuro thought she let out a whine, but there was no other sound than the laugh of Master Rosette that had Kuro trembling while also staying perfectly still in the void she was in.

A pressure on her chest became noticeable to her, and it seemed to grow stronger and stronger, the longer she had been aware of it. 

Next to the laugh, there was now a familiar voice calling out to her. She couldn't tell where it came from as the already high pitch of the laugh got louder and louder.

* * *

"Are we going to return to that snowy house?" he asked.

"As long as we can hide ourselves, it doesn't matter where it is," Hiyori assured, "I am more worried about O-Toko right now... I hope she's all right..."

"She's with my friends, so she'll be fine... Well, physically, at least-"

The small girl with cat ears shrieked awake, staring at Zoro with wide eyes as he sat next to her, clutching his burning forehead.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl shrieked, reaching for Zoro's forehead where she had bumped into him.

Zoro just waved her off, his voice slightly strained as he continued, "I need to go back to the place where the guy who stole my sword is."

Hiyori agreed to take him there before she turned to look at the girl, "I'm sorry, but who exactly are you? Are you a friend of Zorojuro-san?" she asked, looking the girl up and down.

The girl nodded, slightly uncertain, "My name is Kuro... We- um..." she cleared her throat, "We met before."

At that, Hiyori glanced her over again, before her eyes landed on Kuro's ears.

"You're that cat!" she exclaimed, astounded, "You ate a fruit!"

Kuro frowned at that. She could remember no such thing.

"I... Guess..." she trailed off, but her voice was overshadowed by Zoro.

"I can't forgive Orichi," he was now lying down between Hiyori and Kuro, "I will definitely... Avenge Tonoyasu."

Kuro was startled to see tears start in Hiyori's eyes, "I wish I could... Kill Orochi with my own hands..."

Zoro glanced at Hiyori, wordlessly.

"We'll stay here until tomorrow. Then, we will get to our revenge," Zoro stated, sitting up again, before turning to glare at Kuro, who flinched at the intensity of his stare.

"And you-"

"I'm sorry!" Kuro immediately bowed down, her forehead to the ground.

"Huh?" 

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bump your head like that!" Kuro exclaimed, her eyes closed.

"..."

It was silent for a few moments that felt like half an eternity to Kuro.

"What makes you think I'm angry about that?" Zoro's voice was even, though Kuro thought he sounded exasperated.

"Well, you're glaring at me," Kuro stated, looking to check-

Yes, still glaring.

"I'm not glaring at you!" Zoro snapped, making the girl jump slightly, "Why didn't you tell me you ate a devil fruit?!"

Kuro frowned, "I don't remember eating a devil fruit."

"Then how are you a cat?" Zoro deadpanned, pointing at the obvious ears on her head. Kuro shrugged, looking genuinely confused.

"I don't remember," she insisted, even though that was only partially true.

She did not remember eating a devil fruit.

All she remembered was growing up with Jonathan Rosette.

Maybe he gave her a devil fruit?

"I don't know," was her final reply, which left Zoro sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Kuro could've sworn she heard him mutter under his breath. "And I thought I was going crazy..."

"Why did you stay as a cat even after I had already seen you?" Zoro asked, this time more calmly. He realized that she was a lot jumpier while she wasn't walking around like a cat.

"I'm more comfortable like that..." Kuro trailed off, not looking at Zoro, "I'm not used to..." she frowned, searching for the right way to put it but coming up short, "um- I'm not used to... being like this," she pointed to herself before adding, "Makes me uncomfortable..."

Zoro nodded, trying to guess at what she might be thinking about before Hiyori piped up, "When did you come to Wano?" she asked, sounding curious about the girl, as she had moved quite a bit closer to Kuro.

"Um..." Kuro frowned anew as she tried to remember the exact time, "I'm not sure... Several years ago..." she trailed off, frowning deeper than ever, "I'd been living in the capital for a few months before I met Zoro."

"You mean before you started following me everywhere?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl who now pouted at him.

"I didn't follow you everywhere," she defended, though it was useless as Zoro knew for a fact, that she had been following him around ever since he took her in that one night in the capital, "I didn't follow you when they captured you."

A small smile broke out on Zoro's face, "Yes, you did."

Kuro's face heated up at the prospect of being caught.

Or maybe she was just really angry that he noticed.

Zoro wasn't sure.

He  _ still  _ couldn't read her.

"Can you use Haki?" Zoro asked, surprising Kuro as, for her, the question seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Ha...ki...?" she repeated, frowning, "What's that?"

Zoro frowned, "Never mind."

So, no Haki.

She seemed genuinely confused, and Zoro doesn't know why she would lie to him right now.

When he turned to ask her something else, she was already a cat again, walking over to sit in Hiyori's lap as the woman petted the tiny cat.

"How old are you?" Hiyori asked the cat, who held up two of her paws, meowing as she waved them twice.

'What kind of answer is that?' Zoro sighed under his breath, laying back down, as Hiyori continued to chat with the tiny cat.

'Might as well sleep,' Zoro thought as he closed his one good eye.

* * *

Zoro woke up with something pressing against his side and a small weight on his chest.

Looking down, he glanced at Hiyori, who was peacefully sleeping at his side, before looking at the cat currently sleeping on his chest.

'I wonder what happened to her...' he thought, lifting his hand to gently stroke over the fur of her back, 'she can't even remember her parents or the name they gave her...'

Zoro frowned at the thought that he had been around Kuro for so long without realizing that she had been a devil fruit eater all along.

He had guessed so after he saw her that one time, but he still couldn't think of any devil fruit that would allow someone to turn completely into their animal counterpart.

They all looked slightly human, still.

He thought back to the giraffe-guy they met at Water Seven.

'He didn't look like a giraffe...' 

He had seemed more like a mix between giraffe and human. And while it was true that, in her normal form, Kuro looked like a human with cat ears and a cat tail, she didn't look anything like a human right now.

The only thing that should'Ve probably set Zoro off was that she was  _ acting _ strangely human...

His train of thought broke, when Hiyori stirred next to him, sitting up sleepily, waking up Kuro in the process, who stretched on Zoro's chest, which had him jumping to sit up, suddenly in pain.

"OW!" he pulled the cat off of him, her claws getting loose from Zoro's chest, as he glared at the sheepish-looking cat.

Zoro huffed, placing Kuro on his shoulder once more before standing up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update: January 17th


	10. Cat Fight

Zoro scanned his surroundings as they approached the bridge again. In the distance, Zoro could see the familiar frame of the giant tiger-like man. Grabbing Kuro from his shoulder, he was met with a 'Meow' of protest as he handed her over to the woman standing beside him.

"Watch her," he grumbled before charging forward, the thief now saw Zoro, and another fight ensued. He was distantly aware of the familiar feeling of Kuro staring at him from where Hiyori is waiting.

He couldn't quite describe it, but he could feel that she was glaring at him in disapproval.

Over what, he didn't know, or didn't care, as he crossed blades with the thief once again. 

"What even are you?!" Zoro demanded, striking the man down to the ground, "Friend?! Enemy?!" The man was huffing in exhaustion as Zoro sat, cross-legged, on his chest, katana pointed at his throat. It didn't seem as if he'd answer Zoro, so he continued, "What do you intend on doing with all the weapons you've stolen from passers-by?"

Again, no answer.

"Give me back my blade!" Zoro demanded again, "Don't throw away your life over a single sword."

That seemed to stir something in the thief as he started growling. Zoro quickly jumped back, expecting the attack the man sent his way.

"I refuse! Never!" he exclaimed, "Not that sword!" he insisted, "Your Shusui is a stolen treasure of Wano! The day that sword left this land was the day misfortune arrived! That loss incited the anger of the sword god! Defeat came to every village! Eventually, our whole country was overrun!"

"God?!"

* * *

"Wha-?!" Hiyori exclaimed, grabbing Kuro a little too tightly for the cat's liking. Kuro wriggled in Hiyori's grasp and nearly fell to the ground as Hiyori blurted, "Shusui?!" in pure shock.

Kuro vaguely recalled Zoro calling his missing sword by the same name and glanced back over to him and the tiger-man as Hiyori hugged the cat closer to her once again.

"Stop your quarrel!" an unfamiliar voice rang out over the noise from the men's fight. Kuro could see nothing more than an object zooming toward Zoro, and it wasn't until he stopped the item that she realized that it had been another katana.

Quite a big one at that, too.

"Oh?" the stranger sounded quite interested as Zoro glanced over his shoulder toward the intruder. The katana then flew back to its owner as though it had a mind of its own. Kuro had seen quite a lot in the land of Wano, but this was certainly something she had never seen before.

When Kuro looked over at the owner of the sword, she noticed that he, too, looked nothing like what she expected, though, then again, she should've guessed so.

No one looked exactly like Kuro would expect in this part of the world.

The intruder was quite big and green, wearing a traditional kimono with straw sandals and a huge straw cap to go along with it. His long, orange hair went down in huge waves.

"Kappappappa!" he bellowed, swiftly catching his katana, "Why indeed are a samurai and a monk fighting out here in the wilderness? Neither of you wishes to kill the other! How droll." 

Kuro noticed how Hiyori had tensed up more and more as he continued talking, before the woman exploded, "Kawamatsu! Is that you?!"

"Hm?" the man, Kawamatsu, turned to look in their direction, "How do you know my-?"

* * *

"A Fishman?" Zoro mumbled, more to himself than anything, as he looked at the intruder from over his shoulder.

Out of nowhere, Hiyori ran forward into Kawamatsu's arms, crying in what seems to be happiness.

"I never thought that I would meet you here, in a place like this," Kawamatsu answered calmly, "But the fact that you are alive and well fills me with happiness, Lady Hiyori!"

"Come to think of it, she did say that after her parents died, she was raised by a kappa..." Zoro remembered, looking on at the scene in front of him.

"I'm so sorry... Back then, I was so scared!" Hiyori continued apologizing for running away from Kawamatsu, as Zoro and the thief halted their fight.

Zoro could swear that he saw Kuro licking at Hiyori's tears in sympathy, but he could easily be mistaken, seeing that the tiny cat would probably be too hard to spot from this distance.

In response to something Hiyori must've said in her ramblings, Kawamatsu smiled, "What a kind reason! So that's how it was. Well, as you can see, I've gotten quite fat in the years since!" he laughed happily, and Zoro almost smiled, before something else caught his attention.

And it seems the thief noticed as well by the way he flinched just slightly.

Armed men were charging toward them, fastly shooting at the thief, who flew back from the force of the bullets. Zoro deflected several of the other bullets, barely moving at all, as he glanced at the thief now lying on his back.

"We're here for revenge, Gyukimaru!" one of the men laughed sickeningly, "These guns can take out a wild beast!" another exclaimed.

The other men joined in on the declaration of their revenge, as Zoro resumed a fighting stance. No one was getting to the thief before he could.

"Are these yer friends?" one of the men shouted as he seemingly only now recognized Zoro's and Kawamatsu's presence. Another answered, exclaiming that they should just kill all of them, and Zoro could hear Kawamatsu tell Hiyori to take her cat and get down.

Something in the back of Zoro's mind was trying to tell him something, but he ignored it, as the men charged forward. When Hiyori and Kuro were hiding again, Zoro exchanged a glance with Kawamatsu, an unspoken understanding going between the two of them.

When Zoro and Kawamatsu went to defend the bridge, Zoro didn't know why, but he had expected the monk to help defend it with them, instead, he was filled with mild annoyance to see the man running away once more. Shouting after him didn't grant him an answer either.

Turning back to Kawamatsu, Zoro realized that he had it handled perfectly fine, so, right away, Zoro decided to run after the monk, instead of fighting with the kappa.

"He just doesn't give up, that bastard... Even though he's wounded..." Zoro didn't manage to catch up to the monk, who continued to run far beyond the bridge, and Zoro soon found himself surrounded by old, snowed-in buildings. 

When he lost sight of the thief, he looked around among all the snow, "What is this place...?" he muttered to himself, noticing a smear of blood on the ground, presumably from the wounded monk, "In any case, if I just follow his blood trail..."

"Huh?" Zoro stopped dead in his track, looking at something ahead of him in surprise.

* * *

From her point in Hiyori's arms, Kuro had stared after Zoro's retreating form, about to run after him, when Hiyori and Kawamatsu made to follow after the greenette.

"We should leave this place," Kawamatsu's words had Kuro looking around at all either unconscious or dead hunters who had attacked them, "I cannot believe that there are still such relentless hunters. I wonder who that huge warrior monk from earlier was..." he trailed off before turning around, crouching slightly. "Hop on. It is hard to walk here."

At his suggestion, Hiyori pouted heavily, "I am not a child, Kawamatsu!"

"Is that so?" Kawamatsu laughed, "Then why are you making such a childish face?"

"Y-you meanie!" Hiyori sounded really embarrassed, pouting even more before they started their trek to follow after Zoro and the monk. "I want to ask you so many things, but first..." Hiyori chattered as if she had completely forgotten her earlier embarrassment, "Can you tell me why you are here?"

Kawamatsu paused, before starting to explain what happened after Hiyori left that one day in their past together. He told them, or rather Hiyori, about going to the place they are currently headed, "Like Hakumai, this large northern expanse of Ringo was ruled by the powerful and renowned Shumotsuki family. The Daimyo's name was lord Shimotsuki Ushimaru... He was a master swordsman, and always had a fox at his side..." Kawamatsu concluded his story by concluding that even this part of Wano wound up becoming a wasteland like quite a large part of Wano had.

"A fox?" Hiyori questioned.

Kuro watched their exchange with mild interest, happy to learn something more about the place that she had been roaming for a few years at this point.

"Have you ever heard of Ringo's burial practice, the  _ Eternal grave _ ?" Kawamatsu asked in response to Hiyori's question.

Hiyori confirmed, "Because of how cold it is here, the corpses left in coffins have not rotted for centuries..."

"Precisely. And their graves are marked by  _ their swords, _ " Kawamatsu continued Hiyori's statement, "There are even famous swords amongst those graves... And because of that, it is obvious that it would attract grave-robbers. Such is the current state of Ringo," he concluded.

The rest of their journey was filled with Kawamatsu telling the story of how he met the fox when he went up to the place they're headed as well to collect weapons for a possible war that might happen in the future.

Kuro slightly remembered Zoro's friends mention something akin to this when she met them briefly. Seems the war isn't that far off anymore now.

"So are you here to meet with Mr. Fox?" Hiyori asked, repositioning the tiny cat in her arms so that it would be more comfortable for the woman to support the cat's weight. While it might have been almost non-existent for Zoro, Kuro had eaten a bit more since meeting him than she had before. 

Kuro almost felt offended, but she didn't find any trace of discomfort or annoyance in Hiyori's expression, as she briefly glanced down at the cat in her arms, before returning her gaze to the kappa alongside her.

"I do not expect to find Onimaru here. He must have gotten sick of waiting... It  _ has _ been 13 years, after all... I cannot imagine he stayed here all this time..." Kawamatsu repositioned his cap, "At the very least, if the swords we hid back then are still here, we should have enough for a few hundred people, but..." Kawamatsu trialed off.

For a while, Kuro wondered whether they would even find Zoro up there, but that thought was diminished immediately as she spotted the familiar head of green in front of what looked to be a mine shaft.

"Sir Zorojuro!!" Hiyori exclaimed, waving with a free arm after repositioning Kuro once again.

* * *

Before he even heard Hiyori call out, Zoro already noticed the feeling in the back of his head returning along with the stare that followed him everywhere since running into the cat.

"That guy disappeared, but..." Zoro glanced at the approaching forms behind him, "He left this door open..." Zoro trailed off, glancing back to the entrance as they caught up to him, "What is his aim? Do we follow him, or do we go in?" Zoro was genuinely conflicted.

Whatever lay beyond the entrance seemed to lure him in, but he knew that he should probably follow the thief to see where he hid Shusui.

"Through here is an underground passage," Kawamatsu answered, going inside, after telling them to wait outside.

Hiyori set down the cat that she had been holding this whole time, before letting out a sigh, "Sir Zorojuro... If your sword is truly  _ Shusui _ ..." Zoro looked up from Kuro, who had just jumped up into his lap once again, "Then please give it back to this country!"

Zoro was agitated at Hiyori's words, "I told you, that sword's mine!!" Zoro still remembered his run-in with the soul of the sword's former owner. The sword was his. His prize for winning a fight. He didn't even realize the way Kuro jumped at his raised voice.

"I will give you a suitable replacement!" Hiyori offered, "It is my late father's beloved blade which was given to me... The famous blade of Enma!" she took an almost unnoticeable step closer to Zoro, who had absentmindedly begun stroking Kuro's cheek as a surprised look crossed over his face at Hiyori's words. "It is a legendary blade that managed to give Kaidou his one and only scar!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: February 14th 2021


	11. Note

Hey,

there won't be an update for now. Exams are coming up, and I still need to study quite a bit... 

I'll update as soon as possible, but until then, I'll go on Hiatus. 


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